SAIT Cuts 65 Jobs: The Heartbreaking Reality of Canada's Post-Secondary Crisis

More than 30 positions at SAIT have been terminated across several departments, including communications, marketing, counselling, student engagement, and the school’s library, according to internal emails. The union representing those employees estimates the number of positions affected to be 65, with 12 being temporary and 17 departments impacted.

Pedestrians walk in the morning light on the SAIT campus Calgary on October 7, 2025. The college let go of 65 employees recently due to a lack of enrollment and funding. Gavin Young/Postmedia

Why This Is Happening

SAIT spokesperson Chris Gerritsen stated that changes to federal international student policies have resulted in a decline in enrolment, forcing the institution to make difficult but necessary budget adjustments. The institution is currently working through organizational and workforce adjustments.

“It is heartbreaking,” said Rose Reid, who was two years from retirement after 23 years working at the institution but chose to resign in exchange for severance to safeguard the jobs of her younger colleagues. She knew the cuts were coming, but the foresight didn’t make the experience much easier.

“They’re not only your co-workers, but they’re your friends,” she said. “I didn’t want to see these young people in their 20s and 30s with young families be abolished. I thought, ‘Could I swing it so that I could retire two years earlier to help somebody else save their job?’”

A Growing Trend

The cuts come a year after the institution terminated nearly 30 positions with what an AUPE spokesperson previously described as a lack of dignity. Bonnie Gostola, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), noted that employees were not allowed to return to their workstations to get their personal belongings, say goodbye to friends and colleagues, and were escorted from the premises.

Sandra Azocar, president of AUPE, said the latest development is part of a growing trend over recent years. “Since about 2019, we have seen a significant decrease in the funding for the sector, then, of course, you add the fact that most of these institutions have lost funding through the international students revenue . . . it has become a bit of a pattern,” she said.

The Impact of International Student Policies

The pool of international students has been drying up as the federal government limits student permits to ease the pressure of a surging population. However, the prospect of fewer international students, who pay three or four times the domestic tuition fees, has left post-secondary institutions reeling as they grapple with historic funding shortfalls from federal and provincial governments.

Last year, SAIT confirmed its photojournalism major — one of the last programs of its kind in Canada — would be discontinued, due to a loss of international students.

Other Colleges Facing Similar Challenges

Students walk through a Plus-15 at Bow Valley College in Calgary on November 29, 2023. Gavin Young/Postmedia

Shortly after, Bow Valley College cut 103 jobs due to a budget shortfall of $15.6 million, also triggered by a decline in international student enrolment and funding reductions for programs, including the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada and the Foundational Learning Assistance Program.

Olds College also paused several programs, including hospitality and tourism management, craft beverage and brewery operations, and agriculture technology integration.

The Root of the Problem

Azocar pointed out that colleges are mainly relying on only one revenue source — tuition. “There hasn’t been any kind of long-term planning as to how to deal with just one stream of revenue,” she said, partly blaming the provincial government for a lack of funding.

The provincial Ministry of Advanced Education previously stated that “Budget 2026 provides $2.2 billion in direct operating funding — a three per cent increase — for post-secondary institutions.” However, Azocar argued that isn’t enough, noting that “It’s constantly been a catch-up game from the previous loss of funding that we have seen since 2019.”

A report by Higher Education Strategy Associates in 2022 found provincial funding had fallen by 31 per cent in the past five years. “When you have a tuition-driven revenue stream, it impacts students, because their tuition continuously goes up — that’s the only way that they’re being able to deal with some of this deficit, and then the other ways are on the backs of staff,” Azocar said.