Hundreds of faculty and staff members were chattering as they walked into a gym in Fanshawe’s J-Building on the morning of Feb. 26. They would soon get an update from President Peter Devlin, and many were sharing their predictions about what they would hear.

The invitation he sent to employees last month was vague—they were simply asked to attend a town hall titled Fanshawe’s Road to Sustainability: Part 1—but the talk of the college this year had been that massive budget cuts were coming.

Sure enough, shortly into Devlin’s speech, it became clear that this was exactly the reason they were there.

“The bottom line is: You can expect that there will be permanent program suspensions,” Devlin told the crowd.

While he added that the college had yet to make any final decisions, he said they would be looking at each and every program offered here at Fanshawe. The ones facing suspension would be announced in March and would be cut for incoming students this fall.

Many of Ontario’s colleges are looking at budget constraints in the coming years. Enrollment levels of international students had reached an unprecedented peak during the 2023/2024 school year, and during that period at Fanshawe, their enrollment represented roughly half of the school’s $537 million revenue.

Last year, when the federal government placed a cap on the number of international student visas, it was assumed the college’s finances would take a major hit. In a previous video update to employees, Devlin had already announced the projected budget deficit to be $95 million over the next two years, and at the town hall, he shared that the total loss in revenue over that time would be almost $200 million. As an external review of the college remains underway, new austerity measures are now in the works.

Along with the program cuts, employees can expect what Devlin calls a rightsized workforce—his term for downsizing—which ultimately means people are going to lose their jobs.

“I use the term rightsize because it is aligning with our operations, with reduced student enrollment and financial realities,” said Devlin, adding that he doesn’t shy away from the truth that it is, in fact, a downsize. 

Mark Feltham, the president of Fanshawe’s faculty union (OPSEU 110), said in a statement that their members are “understandably apprehensive.”

“Precarious workers have been made even more precarious in this landscape, and even full-time workers, with their greater protections, are worried by talk of layoffs and program suspensions,” he added.

President Devlin did make it clear, however, that all changes would be made carefully, and would be phased.

“We’ll make informed, strategic decisions, rather than reactive cuts.”

The first move to expect will be early retirement incentives, he announced, and a hiring freeze has already been put in place. Elaborating on this, Devlin suggested that rather than new hires, it may be possible to move some current employees from rightsized positions into necessary vacancies.

As the waves of these cuts begin to ripple through the college community, accusations and blame may be cast in all directions. However, there is one factor that both Devlin and Feltham agreed should not go unmentioned: Ontario funds colleges at only 44 per cent of the national average—lower than any other province in Canada—and has not allowed colleges to raise tuition for in-province students since they reduced it by 10 per cent in 2019.

“We get $6,891 (per student),” Devlin pointed out. “The average in Canada is $15,615.”

Mirroring this concern, Feltham said that “this is the real story, particularly so on the eve of a provincial election.”

The Feb. 27 election he was referring to resulted in a third straight majority government for Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives—the party responsible for the very policies Devlin and Feltham were criticizing. The next day, The Interrobang reached out to see if the re-elected PCs had a plan to help protect programs and jobs at Ontario’s colleges.

“As part of our plan to protect Ontario, we announced we’ll be providing our colleges and universities with over $500 million for STEM and skilled trades programs to prepare our students for successful careers in critical sectors that will protect Ontario’s economy,” said Dayna Smockum of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. “This is on top of the $1.3 billion we invested to stabilize the sector last year…and the $5 billion in operating funding we put into the sector every year so our colleges and universities can continue to deliver for our students.”