U of W forced to implement hiring freeze after international student cap sinks revenues

Faculty members at the University of Winnipeg may have to rewrite their plans for the winter semester, as budgetary constraints stemming from a federal cap on international student enrolment may halt the hiring of teaching and research assistants.

Peter Miller, president of the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association, said the new hiring freeze creates challenges for faculty members who relied on hiring help to support their teaching and grading of students.

“There are only so many hours in the day.” 

For “someone like myself, teaching three courses — I have maybe 260 students — I don’t think that I can necessarily have the same types of assignments I would have had in mind without some sort of marking support.”

His colleagues, he imagines, may redesign courses, with simpler evaluation metrics, “but that’s only possible in some disciplines.”

“You can’t do that in English — essay-writing is the core of the whole business they do.”

Mood is ‘pretty grim’

Miller said the mood among faculty members is “pretty grim” at the prospect of no teaching assistants in the upcoming winter semester, and perhaps fewer hiring opportunities for faculty positions next year, as the university is projecting between $4 to $5 million in lost tuition revenue because Ottawa has limited new international student arrivals.

The federal government imposed the restrictions earlier this year to try to stop small private colleges from taking advantage of international arrivals and to bring relief to the country’s crowded housing market, particularly in Canada’s biggest cities. 

As of Nov. 1, enrolment of first-year international students at the U of W dropped 34 per cent from the previous year. The university didn’t provide the number of students this represents, but it taught more than 1,500 international students last year.

According to meeting minutes, U of W president Todd Mondor told a September senate meeting there’s a “significant financial impact” to fewer international students, “as international students pay higher tuition” — around three or four times the rate of domestic students.

The university has responded by not filling vacant positions and “a delay on hiring decisions,” spokesperson Caleb Zimmerman said by email.

A recent memo to faculty and staff said all university departments must cut their non-salary budgetary lines by seven per cent for the remainder of the financial year.

It is also indefinitely suspending employees’ ability to expense meals and refreshments at work meetings.

Miller said students are also hurt by a hiring freeze and limits on non-salary spending because “it all comes down to what we do in the classroom, on campus, campus life,” he said.

It could mean curtailing departmental events and fewer opportunities for students to interact with instructors and teaching assistants.

Students may lose opportunities

It also takes away students’ ability to work as teaching assistants or research assistants.

“It can be really important for them when they want to go on to graduate programs or law school or medical school or into professional jobs right away,” Miller said.

Tomiris Kaliyeva, president of U of W’s student union, said the hiring freeze may not be felt until January, but she worries by then students will have fewer places to turn for help.

“Of course, the university has the same goals as we do when it comes to supporting students in education,” said Kaliyeva, an international student from Kazakhstan.

“It’s not something that I’m sure that they wanted to do. It’s just the way things are right now.”

At the University of Manitoba, the number of new international students, as of Nov. 1, plunged 30 per cent from 1,863 students last year to 1,303 students this year.

The university lost around $7.5 million in tuition revenue as a result.

“We don’t fully make that up ever. We adjust to it,” president Michael Benarroch said.

He said the university anticipated around a $5 million financial hit, so it “held the line on cost growth” in preparation. The funding loss was offset, to some degree, by a 2.6 per cent increase in domestic student enrolment.

“I think we’ve managed for this year,” Benarroch said, but “decision makers at all levels are being very cautious in not committing to many long-term expenditures going forward because the future is uncertain.”

He expects the $7.5-million financial hit to double next year, as international enrolment will have been curtailed for two years.

Benarroch said the talk of Canada’s new international student restrictions has created a “chill” in the minds of prospective students overseas.

He said even graduate student enrolment at U of M dropped by 28 per cent, even though the federal policy doesn’t impact them yet.

“It’s created a bit of a chill in the international market where students are no longer thinking that Canada is the welcoming place that we’ve said we are,” Benarroch said.

As of Nov. 1, Brandon University said it welcomed 447 international students in the fall, down 15 per cent from the 527 enrolments last year. 

Red River College Polytech said it’s too soon to understand the impact of Ottawa’s restrictions as the college has multiple student intakes throughout the academic year.

A spokesperson for Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable didn’t promise funding increases for institutions facing a funding shortfall, but said the provincial government is in talks with all institutions about their budgets for next year.