Lakehead University’s decision to launch a Barrie campus may have been prompted by measures to restrict the number of international students in Canada, according to Glen Jones, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
“Lakehead, like many other universities, is exploring opportunities to expand its domestic enrolment given the federal government’s decision to decrease enrolment of international students,” he wrote in an email to the Barrie Compass.
In January, the Federal government announced a 35 per cent cut to the number of visas it would issue to those studying at the college or undergraduate university level — as well as a 50 per cent cut within Ontario. In September, further restrictions to bring the total number down by an additional 10 per cent each year for the foreseeable future were also announced.
The moves came as rude shocks to comptrollers at universities reliant on the higher fees paid by students from abroad. According to Statistics Canada, the average international student pays $38,251 per year in tuition fees, compared to $7,542 for domestic students.
As a result of this fee imbalance, many Canadian colleges and universities had been prioritizing increasing international enrolment. Between 2014 and 2023, the number of foreign students rose from about 240,000 to more than a million.
At McGill and the University of British Columbia, international students now account for more than 30 per cent the student population. At Lakehead, where only 18 per cent of students are from outside of Canada, the financial pinch is less severe. According to Jones, however, it faces another problem — a dwindling local population.
Between 1986 and 2023, Thunder Bay’s population fell by about 3.3 per cent. Other cities in Northern Ontario. including North Bay and Timmins, have seen similar declines. This is in stark contrast to the situation in central Ontario. The situation in central and southern Ontario is very different. According to the city’s estimates, Barrie’s population is expected to reach 300,000 by the middle of the century.
“Given the decreasing populations in the north, Barrie is obviously viewed as an important area for potential development by this university,” writes Jones.
