Workers 'devastated' as Fanshawe College moves to cut 400 jobs

Staffing at Fanshawe College will be cut by 35 per cent — roughly 400 full-time employees — as the school faces financial pressures driven largely by a sharp drop in international students.

Speaking to employees packed into a lecture theatre at the London main campus on Thursday, with hundreds more watching online, Fanshawe President Peter Devlin said the school is projecting a $72-million deficit in the coming two years.

"We are working toward a target of a 35 per cent workforce reduction. That's a lot," Devlin said. "That amounts to approximately 400 folks."

In April, Fanshawe College said it would be ending 40 programs effective in the fall of 2025, including police studies, applied aerospace manufacturing, construction project management, fine art and retirement residence management.

Devlin told employees there will be 30 per cent fewer total student enrollments in full-time programs for this coming year. Due to international student permit cuts, there would be 63 per cent fewer international students attending.

Devlin said the school will begin working toward the 35 per cent staff reduction target in June as a part of Fanshawe's "road to sustainability" restructuring plan.

He did not say how the cuts would be spread between the school's teaching and support staff, but said that "all employee areas will be affected."

Devlin said about 170 of the job reductions will come from removing vacant positions and offering some workers early retirement.

As part of the restructuring, the school will also reduce the number of vice-presidents from five to four, with the retirement of Michele Beaudoin, the VP of student services.

Despite the extent of the staffing cuts, Devlin said they won't be enough to put Fanshawe's books back into balance..

"There will still be a funding gap, and so there is a need for provincial action," he said.

Adam Rayfield has worked 15 years as a locksmith at Fanshawe and also is president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 109.

He spoke to employees after Devlin presented details of the restructuring. He said news of so many staff reductions is unsettling.

"Folks are fearful, they're anxious they're devastated," said Rayfield. "At the end of the day, there's going to be a chunk of people who are no longer here, and personally, that's devastating."

Fanshawe's international student population has been among the highest in Ontario, with roughly 11,700 permits approved for the college in 2023.

That number was recently cut by more than half after the federal government reduced the number of student visas it would give out. International students pay roughly double the tuition cost that domestic students do.

Algonquin, Centennial, Mohawk, Northern, Sheridan, and St. Lawrence colleges all recently announced program suspensions and layoffs due to the permit cap, which is expected to cost Ontario colleges billions in lost revenue.