Lambton College's president and CEO says while they expect to meet enrollment targets for 2024, there are still uncertainties beyond this year due to the two-year international student admissions cap.
Rob Kardas said as of January, Lambton College had approximately 4,100 students enrolled, 2,000 of which were international students.
"It's business as usual here and we expect to have an enrollment in September that is fairly close, I think, to what we've seen in past Septembers," he said. "It might be down a little bit based on the international student cap."
Currently, Kardas said the impact of the admissions cap is largely being felt by their public-private partners in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as they have paused intake for now.
Lambton College has partnerships with two private colleges in Toronto and Mississauga, Cestar College and Queen's College.
In 2023, Lambton College also partnered with Saint Paul University to expand into Ottawa.
Kardas said (also as of January) that about 7,500 international students were enrolled at the two GTA campuses, and 180 were at the Ottawa site.
In terms of whether or not the cap will affect the future of certain programs at Lambton College, Kardas said it's something that will need to be reassessed as there are a number of uncertainties.
"We're not panicking on this, we're going to take a methodical approach to this and there are some government funding issues that still need to be clarified," he said. "So we're taking a wait and see approach before we do anything that would equate to cuts or that sort of thing."
While capital projects assisted by donors will not be impacted, Kardas said some projects will slow down, specifically at the east entrance (or the pond side of the college) while the school assesses next steps.
"I believe over two years, we're looking at about ... a $30 million impact to contribution at the college, which is obviously very significant, and when I talk about the complexities of next steps, that's part of that for sure," he said.
However, the study cap will not hinder plans for a new student residence at the London Road campus.
The new, larger residence, will still be needed as the current facility is nearing the end of its life cycle. Kardas said the current residence is full with a modest waitlist and is generally occupied by domestic students.
He said most international students prefer to live off-campus and will generally bring their families to the area during their study period. It's still hoped that plans will be presented to the board this spring or summer in order to proceed with the design phase of the project.
Meanwhile, Kardas said moving forward, there will be a focus on boosting domestic student enrollment, with a goal of 3,000 per year.
Kardas was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Sarnia's meeting held on Tuesday.