Vancouver Community College also projecting layoffs amid low international enrolment

Vancouver Community College (VCC) will be among the post-secondary institutions to suffer layoffs following a massive decrease in the number of international students studying in B.C.

Frank Cosco, president of the VCC faculty association, confirmed to 1130 NewsRadio that around 30 employees will receive layoff notices on Sept. 1 to come into effect in January.

Cosco shared his dismay, adding that it will be the third round of firings this year.

“Imagine you’re an international student, in whatever country, and you’ve been given the promise of a chance to get a good education in English and even perhaps Canadian citizenship, and you just had the rug pulled out from you,” said Cosco.

He wants the provincial government to dedicate funds to help post-secondary institutions thrive.

If nothing is done, Cosco says he can’t imagine how the institutions will survive.

“They’ll have to downsize even more because they can’t depend on domestic students to make up the funding gaps in the future.”

Another round of layoffs is also reportedly in the works for Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) and Langara College.

On Wednesday, Brent Calvert, president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C., said Langara College announced this week that an additional 80 regular faculty layoffs will take place in April 2026.

“That brings the total to just over 300 people, which is 25 per cent of the workforce on the faculty side at Langara,” Calvert explained.

Langara College CEO and President Dr. Paula Burns didn’t confirm an exact number of layoffs to CityNews.

But, she said the reduction notices have been issued to 69 employees and that the school is down approximately 2,400 international students compared to last year.

Meanwhile, KPU is forecasting a drop of almost 60 per cent in international students compared to 2023.

Staffing cuts have been due in part to federal changes to international permitting, which placed a temporary cap on international enrollment in the country, with only 437,000 study permits being issued in 2025.

—With files from Sarah Jones.