Faculty at some B.C. post-secondary institutions return to mass layoffs

Back-to-school has post-secondary schools across the province scrambling to adapt to budget cuts.

The first day of the fall semester for Vancouver Community College faculty started with an email detailing mass layoffs.

“We’ve just got 31 layoff notices this morning which will take effect on January 2,” explains Frank Cosco, president of the VCC Faculty Association.

Faculty in six different departments have received notice that this will be their last semester.

This year alone, VCC has had three rounds of layoffs.

Langara College also announced a third round of layoffs: 69 full-time continuing faculty received notice last week. More than 150 faculty had already lost jobs in the prior two rounds of layoffs.

It comes amid cuts to international students – in January 2024, the federal government announced a 35 per cent cut in new international student permits.

“I’ve been around a few decades and this is the worst round to funding cuts affecting the most institutions that I’ve ever seen,” Cosco says.

Cuts to student services and orientation events

Students are also feeling the impacts of budget cuts on the first day back at school. University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus has had to cut orientation events and campus services.

Emily Tang, president of the UBC Graduate Student Society, says the cuts could have dire consequences on student wellbeing and success.

“If they’re not getting the right supports in terms of mental health or physical health, supports that they can actually get in classrooms or the campus experience, these students are not going to be able to graduate,” she said.

Tang says she is concerned about academic support amid budget constraints.

“There’s fewer teaching assistantships available, there’s larger class sizes, and there’s less one-on-one academic support.”

Riley Huntley, president of UBC’s Alma Mater Society, says many orientation events have been significantly scaled back.

“Specific programming that allows cohorts to meet each other and to discover the resources that are available to them is either no longer there or the group sizes have doubled.”

“These foundational first few weeks can make all the difference for students and making sure that they make it through their first month, through their first year,” states Huntley.

‘Paying more and getting less’

The BC Federation of Students is calling on the province to restore public funding of the post-secondary system to at least 75 per cent of operating budgets.

“What students are going to see as a result of the lack of funding from the provincial government is they’re paying more and getting less,” says Cole Reinbold, secretary for the federation.

BCFS says over the past decade, tuition fees from international student enrollment have been used to replace public funding.

“You have to remember international students aren’t paying $2,000 a semester for tuition. They’re paying $10,000 or more a semester. So this is a huge revenue for numbers,” they say.

In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills says institutions are facing “significant financial pressures.”

“The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills has repeatedly raised concerns with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada about the lack of consultation and the impact of abrupt policy shifts.”

The ministry adds institutions are responsible for balancing their annual budgets, which BCFS says is why students and staff are seeing the cuts.

“Students are currently the shock absorbers for government cuts,” says Reinbold.