WATERLOO REGION - Conestoga College is taking sudden, anxious steps to reduce its staff and delay building projects as borders close and international students stay home.

The community college expects 2,300 fewer foreign students than anticipated for the spring semester that begins May 19. "There's no way they can get into the country," college president John Tibbits said.

The college now expects to hire fewer instructors to offset $25 million in tuition lost.

Enrolment in the fall semester in September remains unclear. The college is deeply exposed to travel restrictions after tying its future to foreign students who now make up more than half of its full-time enrolment and account for three-quarters of all tuition paid.

"This is a bit of an iceberg on the horizon, the spring semester," Tibbits said. "I would hope that we'd be back and up and running in September with international (students). But I don't know how long the borders will be closed. So we have to be prudent."

Canada closed its borders to limit the spread of COVID-19. Foreign students can no longer enter if their study permit was not approved by March 18.

The college warned its employees by email Friday that "Conestoga will be profoundly affected ... particularly in terms of the international student enrolment that has fuelled college growth over the past several years."

The college has responded to enrolment concerns by:

• Providing up to six months of salary as an incentive for full-time employees to retire earlier.

• Planning to freeze hiring, or to hire fewer instructors for the spring semester and for September if international students don't enrol.

• Planning to delay roof repairs, preventive maintenance, building upgrades and expansion projects.

The college has no layoff plans, Tibbits said.

The college serving Waterloo Region, Brantford and Guelph has 10,949 international students who pay more than $125 million in annual tuition. Most of Conestoga's foreign students come from India.

The University of Waterloo has 8,850 international students but says it does not expect enrolment to fall in its spring semester. It has not forecast impacts in September. Wilfrid Laurier University has 1,574 international students.

Canada says foreign students already in Canada can stay with a valid permit. They can apply to stay longer if their student permit expires, or has recently expired.

Conestoga is advising international students to stay in Canada until their studies are complete. That's out of concern they may not be able to return, and concern that poor internet may make remote instruction a challenge in their home country.

Conestoga recognized international enrolment as a major risk to its business plan partly out of concern that another global pandemic could follow the SARS health crisis of 2003.

Yet the school baked rising foreign enrolment into its budgets and into its funding agreement with the Ontario government.

"I don't regret what we've done," Tibbits said, arguing that Conestoga would be a diminished school without the massive funding that foreign students have supplied.

The college spent their premium tuition to hire staff, add space, pay off debt and build savings. Now it will use its assets and reserves to hunker down and weather a difficult situation.

"The world will not stay like this forever," Tibbits said. "We'll get through this."

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