B.C. post-secondary institutions are experiencing a surge in international student interest fuelled by stricter immigration policies in the U.S.
But it’s an opportunity colleges and universities are struggling to seize due to Canada’s foreign student restrictions and long processing times for visas.
“We have seen an increase in applicants from the U.S. for fall 2025,” said Zena Mitchell, vice-president of students at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in an emailed response. However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) processing times and an increased proportion of study permit denials remain a barrier to enrolling international students, she said.
KPU has experienced a 31.2-per-cent decline in undergraduate and graduate international student numbers, to nearly 5,100 students in 2024-25, from 7,400 in 2023-24, said Mitchell.
The university is projecting international student numbers to drop by 1,500 in the upcoming school year, with tuition revenues expected to fall by a staggering $49 million, she said.
The perception that Canada is now unwelcoming of international students has reduced prospective international student interest, Mitchell said, adding that visa processing times have become applicants’ biggest barrier to enrolment.
In response to national study permit caps, the provincial government in July 2024 imposed international student caps on post-secondary institutions, limiting the population share of international students to 30 per cent of an institution’s total student body.
International applicants are now also required to request a provincial attestation letter when applying for a study permit. This is a letter from the province confirming whether there is enough space at a given institution to approve a permit.
International students planning to study in the U.S. may also soon be facing increasingly complicated application processes, following the United States’ decision to order U.S. embassies worldwide on May 27 to stop scheduling international student visa interviews.
“We have seen increased interest of students [wanting to come] here … students that would otherwise go to the U.S.,” said Dilson Rassier, provost and vice-president, academic, at Simon Fraser University.
He said the school is using all of its available attestation letters and will be unable to accommodate all applicants.
SFU saw an 8.6-per-cent decrease from more than 7,500 undergraduate and graduate international students in the 2023-24 school year to nearly 6,900 in 2024-25.
This decline includes a 550-person reduction in undergraduate students, equal to a loss of around $21 million or $22 million in tuition, said Rassier. SFU predicts there could be an additional decline of 500 undergraduate students for the 2025-26 school year, which could amount to a loss of almost $20 million, he said.
The University of British Columbia has also seen a decrease in international student numbers, and like all post-secondary institutions in Canada, faces a more challenging financial context heading into the next school year, said UBC director of university affairs Matthew Ramsey.
Changes to international student policies have influenced Canada’s reputation as a welcoming destination for students, wrote Ramsey in a response. Geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures and uncertainty have contributed to a decline in applications, he said.
UBC’s total international student count fell by 4.7 per cent between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, to nearly 18,700 from 19,600.
Revenue from international student tuition at both UBC campuses was $626 million in 2023-24. It is forecasted to decline by 0.5 per cent to $623 million for 2024-25, according to the school’s 2025-26 budget, and to fall by 2.7 per cent to $606 million for 2025-26.
Other institutions have been less impacted by student caps. The British Columbia Institute of Technology, for example, received an influx of international students that were already in B.C. when some private institutions were forced to shut down, said provost and vice-president, academic, Jennifer Figner.
BCIT had close to 4,300 international students in 2023-24, according to the institute.
“Our numbers are actually still a little bit up from prior years internationally, but it’s almost like a fake situation,” said Figner. “What’s way down is the number of new students that are applying for programs.”
Although BCIT’s financials have remained stable, projections show a significant decline in tuition revenue over the next three years as students graduate and no new students take their place, she said.
She added that IRCC processing times to get a student visa can now well exceed 200 days.
The B.C. Ministry of Post-Secondary Education wrote in a response to BIV that it understands the financial challenges that institutions are facing, and said it has raised those concerns with the federal government.
Institutions cut costs to maintain operations
Public post-secondary institutions in B.C., unable to dramatically increase programming, seats, tuition or fees to make up revenue, have in some cases turned to wide cost-cutting measures to maintain operations.
KPU is offering retirement incentives to eligible employees, targeting a $3 million reduction in discretionary spending and looking for $5 million in savings by not filling vacancies in administrative and support staff positions, wrote Mitchell.
The school also issued full or partial layoff notices to 69 faculty members in March 2025, though KPU anticipates rescinding some of those notices. The university is working to maintain academic programming and support for students, but a decline in what’s on offer to students is likely, she said.
SFU is not closing academic programs or support services, but a deficit over the last two years has led the university to impose a hiring freeze, conduct budget cuts and consider alternative forms of revenue regeneration in the long term, said Rassier.
“If the situation doesn’t change over the next [few] years, we’re going to have to be very careful how we do business,” he said. “The unintended consequences are devastating for universities across the country.… The next [few] years are going to be challenging for the university sector.”
BCIT is also making financial cuts, including a five-per-cent reduction across the board for the current year. Programming is also being looked at — some programs are getting suspended for the moment due to low enrollment — and the school is actively looking for other ways to generate revenue, said Figner.
A fiscally conservative approach is also being taken by UBC, which is planning to focus its investments on teaching, learning and research for a balanced budget in 2025-26, wrote Ramsey.
