With my deep gratitude to the entire College community for your hard work, creativity, commitment, and patience, I am writing to provide an update on our 2025-2026 budget process and Business Plan.
The completion of our 2025-2026 Business Plan and Budget is the culmination of the most difficult budget process in recent College history, as we worked collectively to address the significant multi-year financial and enrolment challenges driven by stagnant provincial funding and sweeping changes at the federal level that have had profound impacts on international enrolments across Canada. I know that this is a difficult and stressful period for our entire college community.
It’s important to acknowledge the college-wide effort that has contributed to the completion of this year’s budget and I am grateful for the significant input and feedback generated through [email protected]. We received many suggestions and ideas that were incorporated into our planning and that we continue to pursue – including the addition of tuition assistance for those participating in the Voluntary Exit Option, adjustments to ancillary fees in partnership with NCSAC, ongoing work to revamp and redesign curricula and programs to serve the labour market of the future, and opportunities to leverage our unique campus environments and learning enterprises to generate revenue.
The Niagara College approach
As I have shared throughout our budget process, Niagara College has followed its own path in responding to drastic change within the postsecondary sector. Our approach has been data-informed, systematic and collaborative, focused on prioritizing our students and employees, while balancing expenditure reductions and savings with strategies to create new opportunities and revenue generation.
Our budget reflects a projected 8% increase in domestic enrolment which, while significant and positive, is unfortunately more than offset by a projected 39% decrease in international enrolment. The 2025-2026 Business Plan employs strategies to create efficiencies and new sources of revenue and draws on reserves to close the revenue gap in this fiscal year, creating a financial bridge that allows us to implement strategies to achieve a balanced budget in 2026-2027.
Mitigation strategies significantly reduce layoffs
While we recognized early in the budget process that staffing reductions would be inevitable to close a significant revenue gap, we have worked hard to minimize the number of layoffs. Most notably, we leveraged funds from our 2024-2025 surplus to support generous Retirement Incentive and Voluntary Exit programs that drew participation from 124 employees. Despite these many efforts, regrettably we anticipate 29 positions across the administrative, support staff and faculty groups will be subject to layoff.
The processes for faculty and support staff layoffs are covered in the Collective Bargaining Agreements for these groups, and the College will work with the union representatives on the College Employment Stability Committee. These processes will be underway in the coming months.
I know that this will be a very challenging outcome for impacted employees who have made important contributions to our college and to the success of our students. Please know that we have made every effort to reduce the number of layoffs to a fraction of what would have been required without implementing the strategies identified above.
Opportunities for 2025-2026
While we continue to pursue the priorities identified in our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, enrolment growth remains of critical importance to our continued and future success. We will grow academic delivery by expanding access in programs where there is strong demand while accelerating the development and launch of new programs. We will also be innovative in our program delivery, creating flexible models that help us reach a broader range of learners, including those already in the workforce.
We all have a role to play in attracting and retaining students whose dreams can be fulfilled here at NC. Our Open Houses and campus tours remain vitally important, as do all other opportunities to invite prospective students onto our campuses to see first-hand the values and benefits of #ncLIFE. I encourage all of you to find opportunities to share the NC story and contribute to student recruitment efforts to showcase our exceptional programs and learning environments.
We will also generate new revenues through a series of initiatives, including:
- Capitalizing on service gaps created by program changes at other colleges, Niagara College has secured a $750,000 per year provincial contract to deliver academic upgrading programs in Hamilton.
- Lease revenue through an agreement with Asahi Kasei to locate in our Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre, a partnership that will also provide enhanced opportunities for students and our academic programs.
- Launch of NC Barcelona, building on last year’s Summer Institute, to offer unique global learning opportunities for Niagara College students while generating entrepreneurial revenue and elevating our global brand.
- We continue to move closer to our $50 million goal through our Together campaign, and just last month secured $5 million from the Myhal Family Foundation – the largest individual gift in Niagara College history – to support scholarships and the construction of expanded facilities for our health programs, as well as a $2 million donation from the Segal family and GuardMe Insurance, to support our Be World Ready program.
The 2025-2026 budget includes funds for continued investment in our student marketing, recruitment, and retention strategies, and in capital projects directly tied to enrolment growth in areas of high domestic student and employer demand, including:
- Launching a new Project Management Graduate Certificate program
- Accelerating the launch of a suite of programs for 2026-2027 that will add to our program mix and create new opportunities for students to achieve their goals at NC including Addictions and Mental Health, Butchery, and Cybersecurity.
- Breaking ground on an addition that will significantly expand capacity in our health programs, as well as a new student residence – both at our Welland Campus.
President’s Forums
Our student-focused, welcoming, trailblazing, and passionate values have never been more important, and we will continue to draw strength and inspiration from our exceptional college community. I want to ensure that there is an opportunity for continued dialogue on the challenges and opportunities before us. I am pleased to be hosting a series of President’s Forums over the coming weeks and encourage you to register to ask questions and share ideas as we work together to shape the NC of the future.
I am, as ever, tremendously proud to lead our extraordinary community of talented, committed, and passionate students and employees, and thank you once again for all you do to make Niagara College such a special place to learn, work, and grow.
