April 15 2026
Across the country, Canada’s post-secondary education (PSE) system is in crisis.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), which represents workers in public colleges and universities, has been working to map out the full extent of the layoffs, cuts to programs and student services, and restructuring in the PSE sector. We have also been working with our Post-secondary Education Working Group, made up of members working across the sector, to respond to the crisis.
Snapshot of recent cuts
To provide a few examples, BC has seen 1,200+ layoffs, 150+ program cuts, and 40+ student services impacted. Manitoba’s Red River College Polytechnic laid off 44 workers in their Centre for Newcomer Integration at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. In April 2025, PEI’s Holland College laid off 35 workers, the most in the college’s history, and New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) eliminated 66 positions.
And, since 2023, Ontario’s public colleges have seen over 10,000 jobs affected through layoffs, attrition, and unrenewed contracts, with over 600 programs cut in areas like hospitality, arts, law, and health.
While the numbers vary across institutions and provinces, what’s common is the level of cuts are often unprecedented. We have seen campuses closed, particularly in rural and northern communities, and services outsourced to private companies. The sector continues to brace for impact, as more cuts, mergers/closures, and threats of privatization are announced.
This is having detrimental impacts on current and future students, workers in the sector, and on broader communities—and threatening the very future of public PSE in this country.
It’s not international students—it’s a funding crisis
While the drop in international student enrollments has been a catalyst, we know that it is decades of chronic underfunding that is the true root cause of the crisis. Both provincial and federal funding for post-secondary education institutions has plummeted.
- In BC, public funding has dropped from 68% in 2000 to 41% in 2025
- In Ontario, from 75% in 1967 to 30% in 2020, with recent sweeping cuts to student aid
- In New Brunswick, from 82% in 1979 to 56% in 2019, with more cuts expected
- Nova Scotia’s 2026 provincial budget just announced a $20.5 million cut to PSE grant funding
- Newfoundland and Labrador’s $68.4 million cut to PSE in 2021 more than doubled university student tuition fees in just over a year
To make up for the gap, many institutions increasingly exploited international students as cash cows, some paying up to 5.7 times more than domestic fees. When caps on enrollment hit, the system collapsed. And it’s still collapsing.
The privatization playbook
Defund a public institution until it is broken, build up external funding sources and corporate alternatives at the public’s expense, then decimate the public good. As a result, jobs become more precarious, income inequality widens, and in the end, everyone loses; when the priority becomes profit over quality, corners get cut.
An overdependence and exploitation of international students is one of many strategies in the overarching playbook to privatize Canadian PSE. Others include mounting student debt, tuition hikes, contracting out, and corporate partnerships.
How we can fight back
The crises impacting our PSE system nationwide exist within the larger context of attacks on public services and our social safety net across the board.
Strong solidarity is the key to fighting back. As we’ve seen, building campus coalitions connecting students, workers, and community members can be powerful. Through actions, campaigns, and collaborating across organizations, we can build our confidence, capacity and hope while strengthening power in movements.
Public education is a right that belongs to everyone. Together, we can push back against privatization and cuts and build a stronger, fairer system.
NUPGE would like to thank Carleton University student Isabel Ojeda, who completed a placement with the union, for her research into PSE cuts and privatization.