More cuts have been announced at Lethbridge Polytechnic.
The local post-secondary’s president and CEO, Dr. Brad Donaldson says the polytechnic is facing a budget shortfall of around $8 million.
That is due in part to policy changes by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which have reduced the number of international student visas that can be approved.
Donaldson says as a result, 53 permanent positions across all employment groups have and are being terminated by June 30. He adds that 26 of those came from voluntary early retirements, redundancies or modified hours, while 27 of the layoffs are involuntary.
The employee departures come along with the suspension of three academic programs and one diploma major at Lethbridge Polytechnic. These include:
- Educational Assistant diploma
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- The polytechnic notes it will continue to offer the Educational Assistant certificate program.
- Commercial Greenhouse Technician certificate
- Agriculture Sciences – Animal Sciences major
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- The polytechnic says students can continue to take the Agriculture Sciences – Agronomy or Agriculture Business majors.
- Health Care Aid – Government of Alberta certificate
Additionally, the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence, or ACE, will be closing.
Donaldson notes the programs being eliminated were selected due to low enrollment.
“We need to make sure that the programs we offer have two things. One is the student demand – do students want to go into those careers? Secondly, from a hiring perspective, are there hiring opportunities in those careers? We’ve seen a shift in student demand, and we can’t afford to run very low-filled programs,” he says, adding students currently enrolled will be able to finish their studies.
Donaldson says the suspension of these programs “frees up resources to work on new programs not offered in southern Alberta”.
“Programs like dental assistants, powerline technicians and advance care paramedic are just a few of the new programs we’re considering,” he states.
“Moving forward, we must continually assess our programs for relevancy, demand and student interest.”
This latest announcement from the polytechnic follows news in January that the English Language Centre would be closing as of June 30, impacting another 19 employees.
READ MORE: Lethbridge Polytechnic’s English Language Centre to close in June
“Reducing our budget has not been easy, leading to a difficult few months for our employees,” Donaldson says.
“However, our institution faced these challenges with genuine caring and kindness shared by all employees. In fact, of the many places I’ve worked in during my working life going through similar circumstances, this is the first place someone, and there were many, asked me how I’m doing amidst these changes.”
He adds he’s thankful to all employees for their understanding during the difficult period.
“I feel fortunate to be part of this dedicated and caring community. I also want to thank the many employees who volunteered to end their time at Lethbridge Polytechnic. Their selflessness led to a significant decrease in involuntary cuts across all employee groups.”
“We remain committed to students in providing programs that lead to careers, work-integrated learning and opportunities that build confidence as students make their way into a career,” Donaldson remarks.
He adds despite the policy changes by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the institution is still recruiting international learners but also putting a focus on bringing in more domestic students.
