Sask. universities see significant drop in international student enrolments

Saskatchewan used to be an education destination for international students. But the province's two universities are seeing a significant drop in those enrolments — enough to start having a financial impact.

According to the University of Regina's winter count, the university had 4,457 international students, making for a little less than a third of the university's total student population. International students at the University of Saskatchewan, on the other hand, made up for 14 per cent of the total student population in 2023-24. 

Both the universities have reported a drop in enrolments this winter intake. 

The U of R says the number of newly-admitted international students "has declined significantly" by more than 50 per cent this winter term compared to January 2024. 

"This reduction means the number of incoming international students is not keeping pace with the number of continuing students who will soon finish their programs," U of R spokesperson said in an emailed statement. 

U of R declined an interview to talk about the impact of the decrease.

14 per cent fewer international students made their way to the U of R in three fiscal years ago because of pandemic-related travel restrictions, according to the university's annual report. 

The report says the drop in foreign students and a lesser decline in domestic student enrolment of four per cent "adversely" affected the institution's revenue-generating capacity that year. 

U of S officials say they've not finalized their count yet, but preliminary numbers suggest a 20 per cent decrease. Jerome Cranston, vice-provost of students and learning at U of S, says the loss is more than just financial. 

"What international students actually bring to the University of Saskatchewan, they bring potentially to the province if they decide to stay. That's something that we definitely are feeling a loss," he said. 

Statistics Canada data for Saskatchewan shows that in the current academic year, international undergraduates paid an average of $31,540  in tuition, while domestic students paid $9,609. 

International undergraduate students in Saskatchewan universities have also seen a 53 per cent jump in the cost of their tuition in the past five years. That increase was 16 per cent for Canadian undergraduate students, according to the statistics agency. 

Cranston says the U of S is not immune to the financial hit, but that they also haven't completely relied on international students to balance their budgets. 

"We are taking a look at our expenditures.... We, unlike other post secondary institutions, are not contemplating layoffs, we are not contemplating not filling positions."