Grizzly determination: Standing strong in the face of change

Feb. 25, 2025

This message is posted on behalf of Kevin Weaver, President and CEO 

Aaniin, She:Kon, Nakurmiik, Tanshi, which means hello in Ojibwe, Mohawk, Inuktitut and Michif.  

Our communities, industries and our world continue to undergo rapid and profound changes that are vastly reshaping how we think, teach, learn, work and interact. Never before have we had to be more agile, responsive, willing to transform and adapt.  

All these changes are creating a great deal of uncertainty and leaving many of our partners wondering how to keep up. But leading through change – and helping others do so and emerge stronger – has always been part of what we do at Georgian.  

When employers come to us with critical shortages, productivity and workforce development challenges, we’re quick to collaborate on innovative programming. When community partners struggle to solve complex issues, we’re eager to jump in and support. When the government looks to us to advance economic and social priorities, we offer up creative solutions. 

We take pride in supporting our students, communities and industry partners, and time and again, I see our team exceeding expectations.  

As I previously shared, the postsecondary sector and our college also face a great deal of ambiguity and change. Sweeping policy measures in 2024 introduced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada exacerbated chronic underfunding challenges. We’ve had to make some tough choices over the last year to ensure the long-term sustainability of our organization and unfortunately, continue to do so.  

Georgian has an approximate $45 million financial gap for 2025-26 and estimated additional gap of $15 to $20 million for 2026-27.  

We anticipate an enrolment decrease of nearly 3,200 full-time international students in 2025-26. When compared to 2023-24, this represents a 45% reduction in international enrolment. Georgian’s domestic enrolment has been increasing yet that growth isn’t sufficient to cover the gap arising from international student declines. When we combine our planned domestic and international enrolment, we anticipate a decrease of approximately 13% (or 1,800 students) in 2025-26 versus 2023-24.  

Though we haven’t cancelled any programs to date, we’ve suspended intakes, reduced class sizes, combined some classes and realigned academic portfolios.  

The economic impact of reduced student spending in the region is estimated to be $17.6 million. 

Since 2024, 232 roles have also been impacted at the college through natural attrition, layoffs, focused voluntary retirements and exits. Not to mention, we’ve implemented other cost-savings measures like administrator compensation adjustments, the standardization of support staff hours and teaching workload optimization. Everyone has felt the impact.  

At the same time, these circumstances have revealed to me what this college is truly made of. Our employees are reimagining program delivery and services, developing innovative solutions to optimize resources and achieve key outcomes – all while maintaining our commitment to delivering an unrivaled student experience. 

They’re deeply listening to the needs of our partners and ensuring seamless support.  

These are the people teaching and inspiring our students – modelling the exact qualities we hope to instil in our graduates: compassion, collaboration, bravery, authenticity and teamwork.  

The Auditor General and blue-ribbon panel reports both revealed our funding model is broken. As we continue work together to solve our internal challenges and assist our partners in addressing their own, I urge the government and industry to join Georgian and our sector in rethinking how colleges are supported so we can maximize and expand our collective impact.  

As a public institution, we’re committed to being responsible and accountable to all of you. Despite these significant financial pressures, our focus remains on our core mandate of delivering career-oriented postsecondary education that empowers students to find and sustain meaningful employment, meet the evolving needs of employers, and support the economic and social development of our diverse local, regional and global communities.

By ensuring sustainable funding, we can dedicate even more energy to fulfilling this purpose with the kind of determination that you find in the heart of a Grizzly.  

Chi-Miigwech. Thank you.  

Kevin