How the federal government’s plan to sharply reduce new international study permits will affect UBC’s budget remains uncertain, according to the university. The federal budget, released on Nov. 4, outlines a 49 per cent cut to new permits in 2026 from this year’s target, lowering the total to 155,000.
The federal government’s plan reduces the number of new international permits from the 2025 target of 305,900 to 155,000 in 2026 and 150,000 per year in 2027 and 2028.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, UBC Media Relations Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey wrote, “How those [new] levels translate to institutional targets and attestation letter allocation remains unclear. It is too early to speculate on the impact of the new measures as we await additional information from the government in the days and weeks ahead.”
According to UBC’s 2025-26 budget, 22 per cent of the university's operating revenue will come from international tuition this year, for a total of $606 million, compared to $626 million in 2023-2024, marking a 3 per cent decrease since international student caps came into place.
The reductions come after a series of moves by the federal government to reduce the share of temporary residents to five per cent of Canada's population by the end of 2026, and less than five per cent by the end of 2027. This is intended to ease pressures on the housing market, labour market and public services facing high demand.
“Managed immigration growth is now helping to stabilise labour-market conditions and is expected to support better outcomes for youth,” the federal budget reads.
According to Ramsey, there are no university-wide plans to implement systemic cuts at this time, but previous caps leading to decreases in international students are already impacting some parts of the university. This has included reduced operating budgets and led to staff reductions in some units. Ramsey stated that UBC has utilized many measures to mitigate impacts.
“UBC has been curbing discretionary spending, implementing hiring pauses, and developing a new voluntary retirement program as a tool to support our financial position, workforce planning, and to provide voluntary options for employees,” he wrote.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, AMS VP External Solomon Yi-Kieran wrote that UBC will likely weather this crisis better than other institutions, but warned that the impact of the changes could still be severe and the cut “will have massive impacts on the entire post-secondary education system in this country and this province.”
“Other universities have had to cut programs, such as [Vancouver Island University] cutting 10 programs this fall, something which could become a reality at larger institutions as well,” they wrote. “However, the scale of this change could see dire cuts to programs, staffing, support services, food-security, and every other part of the UBC experience.”
UBC’s total international student count fell by 4.7 per cent between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, falling from 19,600 to nearly 18,700 students. Kevin Milligan, director of the Vancouver School of Economics, told The Ubyssey the university is also seeing a drop in the number of applications from international students.
“Many attribute this to all the negative headlines in student-source countries about coming to Canada. I think there is something to that,” he said. “I wish the federal government would take more care in its messaging — I worry they are discouraging great students from applying.”
The university’s 2025-26 budget forecasts total tuition revenue of $1.035 billion — $13 million lower than the forecast for 2024-25 — primarily due to decreased international enrolment. Although yearly tuition increases will offset some losses, UBC still expects a 5.1 per cent decline in international undergraduate tuition revenue.
In an effort to prevent the university from compensating for reduced international tuition revenue through steeper tuition hikes, Yi-Kieran said that the AMS will be pushing the provincial government for an international student tuition cap and also pushing to protect and maintain the current 2 per cent domestic student tuition cap under the province’s tuition limit policy.
“We will be calling for the province to reaffirm its commitment to maintaining the tuition limit policy and reject any proposal to lift the 2 per cent cap on domestic tuition and mandatory fees. This will need to be a year-after-year advocacy ask.”
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