NORTHERN COLLEGE
Northern to reduce staff compliment to remain viable following government policy changes

In January 2024, the Federal Government introduced changes to international student study permit eligibility and post graduate work permit eligibility.

The impact of these changes had an immediate impact on Northern College's international student enrolment. As a result, the College is projecting an operational deficit of 6 million dollars in its 2025-26 academic year and 12 million dollars in its 2026-27 academic year.

To address these projected deficits, and ensure Northern's ongoing viability, the College will be required to reduce expenses, increase operational efficiencies and reduce staffing levels. Without making these tough staffing and operational adjustments, the future of the College is at risk.

"We have worked diligently to develop solutions to this concerning issue, exploring all alternatives that put our staff first," stated Mitch Dumas, President & CEO of Northern College. "Unfortunately, due to the combination of existing funding models, reduced international recruitment numbers and growing costs due to inflation, Northern has had to make the difficult decision to reduce its existing staffing compliment."

Since May of 2024, Northern has worked to develop early retirement incentives and voluntary exit incentive packages to enable employees to respectfully exit on their own terms. These packages were designed to offer employees the opportunity to make the decision for themselves, and to grant them the time and financial stability to move on to a new chapter successfully. In addition to these incentive packages, the College will also be issuing layoff notices as required.

Northern College is dedicated to developing new revenue streams to ensure that the Institution can operate well into the future and continue to play a significant role in the socio-economic landscape of Ontario's Northeast.

"This isn't the first time in our institutional history that we've faced an uncertain future, or endured financially difficult times, and we'll weather this as we've done before," stated Dumas. "I would like to say that this was an incredibly difficult decision for us to make."

"Decisions made at a federal level have a direct impact on our communities, our ability to support our employees and fundamentally to provide our students with the best quality education in what we feel is a fantastic place to start a career," added Dumas.

Northern College, alongside other institutions in the Ontario College system, continue to lobby federal, provincial and municipal governments for policy adjustments that support the integrity of community Colleges like Northern and their ability to provide opportunities for those seeking a brighter future.