Manitoba universities and colleges are receiving fewer applications from overseas owing to the “chill” of a new cap on international students that has already taken a toll on bottom lines and affected tuition rates.
The University of Manitoba is grappling with a 30 per cent decrease in new international enrolment and has yet to assign every seat it was allotted as part of a federal initiative to alleviate pressures on housing stock and health care.
Senior administrators had only anticipated and budgeted for a 20 per cent drop across U of M campuses.
“At the heart of it, the challenge is that international students are just confused about Canada, no longer see Canada as their top option and so, they withdrew applications,” president and vice-chancellor Michael Benarroch told the Free Press.
There’s been “a very big impact” on international demand for undergraduate and graduate programs, even though Ottawa’s policy only restricts the former, Benarroch said.
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“At the heart of it, the challenge is that international students are just confused about Canada, no longer see Canada as their top option and so, they withdrew applications,” University of Manitoba president and vice-chancellor Michael Benarroch told the Free Press.
He noted the financial fallout at the Winnipeg-based institution is expected to be between $5 to $7 million.
International students pay about four times the amount of tuition as citizens and permanent residents. These pupils account for about 21 per cent of U of M’s overall population.
Campuses across the country have become increasingly reliant on these costly fees to balance their budgets over the last decade.
U of M recently increased its tuition rates for domestic and international students — by 2.7 and 5.5 per cent, respectively — in part to make up for related revenue losses.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced in early 2024 that it was cracking down on admissions to target “bad actor” institutions taking advantage of newcomer students and reduce overall demand for public services.
Local post-secondary leaders have rejected the notion that either are serious problems that warrant such intervention Manitoba.
Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable said post-secondary institutions have reported enrolment challenges and undue stress being put on students as a result of the cap and its “chilling effect.”
“By and large, the demand is not there (anymore) and what we’ve heard from folks who have recruiters in other countries and who are connected to recruiters, there really is a chill to the Canadian brand,” Cable said.
Manitoba was allotted 18,652 attestation letters for international students in 2024-25. Recipients of the letters, which were introduced to facilitate the cap, can apply for a study permit through the federal government.
The University of Winnipeg, Assiniboine College, Brandon University, Saint-Boniface University and U of M are among the institutions that have not handed out all the attestation letters they received.
“Our international applications are also down. There was some uncertainty among international students about the new system,” Rob Henderson, a communications officer at Brandon University, said in an email.
BU is among the local schools that have introduced new deposits for international candidates that have further complicated the application process.
Early signs suggest the cap is “effectively reigning in international student volumes,” said Michelle Carbert, a communications adviser for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Carbert said in a statement that the measures were introduced to ensure students arriving in Canada are set up for success and tackle issues that have made some vulnerable.
The 2025 allotments remain uncertain, but the federal government has announced its intention to reduce study permits by an additional 10 per cent compared to 2024.
Cable said she’s frustrated about the message that is being sent to potential students in other parts of the world.
“Manitoba is a welcoming place. We want international students to come here, and we’re going to continue to advocate for our fair share,” the minister said.
“Manitoba is a welcoming place. We want international students to come here, and we’re going to continue to advocate for our fair share.”–Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable
The latest provincial data show India is the most common country of origin for international students, followed by China and Nigeria.
In addition to contributing to the economy, international students bring diverse lived experiences, cultures and perspectives to U of M, Benarroch said.
“I don’t think we were overly reliant (on international students). We were kind of thinking that the balance was just about right prior to these changes,” he said.
The senior administrator said he’d like to see the federal government come up with a more targeted policy that does not harm schools in cities that are not plagued by the problems Ottawa is aiming to solve.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., Maggie was an intern at the Free Press twice while earning her degree at Ryerson’s School of Journalism (now Toronto Metropolitan University) before joining the newsroom as a reporter in 2019. Read more about Maggie.
Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
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