B.C. Campuses Are Cutting Programs While Victoria Keeps the Reports Locked Up
The post-secondary crisis is now measurable: a reported $300-million annual shortfall, 180-plus program cuts, and more than 1,300 faculty and staff affected.
B.C.’s post-secondary squeeze is no longer a vague warning from administrators. Business in Vancouver reporting carried by Castanet says public colleges and universities have already cut more than 180 programs and dismissed or laid off more than 1,300 faculty and staff since the federal international-student cap took effect.
The same report cites a 66% decline in federally approved international students for B.C., from roughly 97,000 in 2023 to 32,596 in 2026. It also cites a provincial estimate of an approximately $300-million annual revenue shortfall for public post-secondary institutions. That is not a rounding error. It is a structural hole in the education system the NDP has been managing.
Ottawa’s cap is real. But Victoria cannot hide behind Ottawa while B.C. campuses shrink. The province built a system that relied heavily on international tuition, commissioned major reviews of the funding model, and now asks the public to watch programs and jobs disappear without seeing the full advice government received.
That is the accountability failure. The reporting says the NDP government commissioned a Don Wright funding-formula report in 2022 and a Don Avison sustainability report last November. The ministry confirmed Avison has submitted his report, according to BIV, but said it will be made public only after government finishes its review.
That answer is not good enough. If the reports are strong, release them. If they warn that the funding model is broken, release them. If they show tradeoffs ministers would rather avoid, release them anyway. Students choosing programs, instructors facing layoffs, communities losing training seats and taxpayers funding the system deserve the record before more damage is normalized.
The stakes are not limited to one campus. The article cites BC Policy Solutions as finding that 19 of B.C.’s 25 public institutions forecast at least one operating-loss year over the next three years. At the same time, Budget 2026 materials show the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills controls billions in grants, programs and labour-market spending. British Columbians are entitled to know whether that money is tied to a plan or simply being used to soften the landing as programs vanish.
This is not a demand for panic spending. It is a demand for open books. Release the Wright and Avison reports. Provide a campus-by-campus risk table. Show which programs have been cut, which communities lost seats, which institutions face operating deficits, and what benchmarks will prove the system is being stabilized.
Premier David Eby’s government says it believes in skills, training and opportunity. Then it should stop treating the public like a spectator while classrooms are cut and reports stay locked in Victoria. Before the next program disappears, release the evidence and defend the plan.