Last winter, Cambrian College’s international student population in Sudbury had actually eclipsed its domestic students, but this trend has now reversed.
Sudbury.com recently asked the college for its latest enrolment data as part of an article we were writing on the federal government’s further cuts to international student permits.
Public colleges in Ontario were able to maintain but not increase their current international enrolment levels this school year under the new rules. There will be further cuts to international student permits for 2025.
This fall, there has been a 10-per-cent increase in Cambrian domestic students over fall 2023 (which stand at 3,516), while international student enrolment is down one per cent compared to fall 2023 (putting their numbers at 2,631).
Cambrian’s enrolment at its Sudbury campus is up five per cent overall.
“The increase in domestic is due to the incredible achievement and the hard work of everyone at the college to really increase our marketing and increase our focus for domestic students to come to Cambrian,” said college vice-president Allison De Luisa, in a recent interview with Sudbury.com.
However, Cambrian College is winding down its operations at its Hanson campus, its private college partner in the GTA offering programming for international students, with enrolment there down four per cent this fall, now sitting at 5,790.
Career colleges no longer receive international student permits under the new federal rules.
Last January, Cambrian had 3,200 international students studying at its Sudbury campus, while there were 3,000 domestic students, which shows the drop in the international student population as well as the growth in domestic students.
The enrolment last January at its Hanson campus sat at 6,200.
As of last year, Cambrian’s on-campus international student enrolment in Sudbury has gone up by 204 per cent since 2018 and by 89 per cent in just 18 months.
Heidi Ulrichsen is the assistant content editor at Sudbury.com. She also covers education and the arts.