As Canada's international student immigration rules force British Columbia's universities and colleges to make staffing cuts, it appears unlikely that the provincial government will provide any relief. 

Premier David Eby said in an interview with Black Press Media on April 25 that he is focused on lobbying the federal government to re-evaluate its policy rather than have the provincial government provide financial assistance to post-secondary institutions, which he says would be too expensive.

鈥淭he scale of the impact is frankly too high for us to be able to fully replace what international students brought in terms of the ability of schools to bring on capacity and finance additional sites. We will work with the sector, and we are working with the sector, to try to mitigate these harms.鈥�

In January 2024, the federal government announced it would reduce student visas by 35 per cent to address what it alleged was the exploitation of international students paying high tuition for poor education at private colleges. The permits were then reduced by another 10 per cent for 2025 and 2026, with new rules added to include graduate and doctoral students. Eligibility for the Post-Graduate Work Permit program was also reduced.

The loss of income has led to layoffs and program closures at post-secondary institutions across B.C. that relied on revenue from international students.

Selkirk College in the West Kootenay earlier this month announced it would as part of cuts meant to address a $9-million deficit, with more layoffs expected this year. Okanagan College is in revenue for the 2025-26 school year, while Camosun College in Victoria says it is to address an $11-million shortfall.

In the Lower Mainland, Kwantlen Polytechnic University has at its Langley, Cloverdale, Surrey and Richmond campuses. North Island College, with campuses on Vancouver Island, is anticipating a for the 2025-26 school year.

Eby said the immigration rules are also impacting the Provincial Nominee Program, which provides a path to permanent residency for skilled immigrants who can work in sectors such as health care and construction. That program, Eby said, has had its applicant numbers reduced by half.

The premier said his goal is to lobby the federal government to loosen its immigration rules, and that he's already spoken about the issue with prime minister candidates Mark Carney of the Liberals and Jagmeet Singh of the NDP.

"They are certainly understanding of the fact that we鈥檝e benefited significantly from international student programs here in British Columbia, that there is a need to revisit and have conversations about how we can minimize impacts on post-secondary institutions as a result of sudden changes in federal policy.鈥�

Although the provincial government can't afford to offer financial assistance to post-secondary institutions, Eby said the B.C. NDP have tried to prioritize the available study permits to the province's colleges where there is greater need for the lost revenue.

But he added layoffs and cuts at those colleges are unavoidable.

鈥淲hat they鈥檝e seen is the students just aren鈥檛 taking the spaces because of an anxiety that there鈥檚 no path to citizenship and Canada is not as welcoming as it used to be. So some pretty significant work needs to take place here and unfortunately part of that does include reducing expenses for post-secondary schools that are taking a huge hit here.鈥�