When Kashish Sharma left her home in India to study hospitality at Barrie鈥檚 Georgian College in September 2023, she was filled with hope听鈥 hope that she would gain knowledge and build a career in an industry she loved.
But last week, even as the 20-year-old was on track, having completed her final project for her two-year diploma and looking ahead to a job at a local resort, she was acutely aware that much had changed in her field of study. That sense of optimism among her classmates, 95 per cent of them international students, had been replaced by听dread.
Over the past 16 months, a drumbeat of immigration changes has been reshaping the post-secondary landscape. Since the federal government first introduced a cap on international students in January 2024, Ontario colleges and universities have seen a significant drop in international enrolment. Multimillion-dollar deficits, layoffs and program closures have followed.听
鈥淣obody wants to come with uncertain plans anymore,鈥 says Sharma, who is graduating from Hospitality听鈥 Hotel and Resort Operations Management. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 blame them.鈥
Colleges have been hit especially hard, and few areas have felt the blow more deeply than hospitality and tourism education 鈥 grappling not only with a precipitous drop in enrolment, but also the setback of being excluded from the list of programs eligible for post-graduate work permits.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a devastation being felt by these students,鈥 says Alyson Swarbrick, program co-ordinator of Georgian’s flight services. She has bookended the academic journey of Sharma and her peers, having taught them in first semester and now at the end. Even while soon-to-be graduates like Sharma are grandfathered under old rules, they remain, Swarbrick says, wracked with uncertainty.
鈥淭here is a distinct difference between the feeling of this (cohort鈥檚) end and that of previous years.鈥
Since these students began their studies, colleges across Ontario have shuttered hospitality and tourism offerings, including at least 22 culinary programs. Sharma鈥檚 program has been put on pause 鈥 Georgian won鈥檛 be taking in any new students at its Barrie campus this summer or at its South Georgian Bay campus this fall. Some colleges are projecting as few as 10 new international students in hospitality programs that are going ahead this fall.
All this, in turn, is raising alarm in a sector that has come to rely on the student-to-worker pipeline that flows from these institutions.
鈥淲ithout Ontario鈥檚 public colleges, the province鈥檚 tourism and hospitality industry is heading for a staffing crisis,鈥 says Maureen Adamson, interim president and CEO of Colleges Ontario.听
鈥淔or example, culinary programs offered in eastern Ontario have been cut dramatically with only one college left, at a time when Ontario and Canadians are voting with their feet to stay in Canada,鈥 she added.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) estimates the province could see 20,000 fewer international students in workplaces this year, exacerbating an existing labour shortage.
Industry experts say customers could find themselves waiting longer for their coffee orders 鈥 or they might discover their favourite restaurant has had to scale back its menu and hours. The trend is likely to worsen as fall program suspensions bring in no new students.听
But experts note it could also be the wake-up call that finally gets the public to recognize that the fallout from the changes to international student policies go beyond higher education.
鈥淲hen people begin to realize the impact on their daily lives,鈥 says Swarbrick, 鈥渢hey might start to really care.鈥
Student Kashish Sharma of the Hospitality 鈥 Hotel and Resort Operations Management program, embraces instructor Alyson Swarbrick on the last day of class at Georgian College in Barrie on April 11.
Nick Kozak for the 海角社区官网StarTourism in Ontario turned a corner last year.
Despite inflation, the industry returned to pre-pandemic levels of sales and growth, and visitor spending exceeded approximately $33 billion, according to TIAO. . Yet labour shortages persist, with vacancy rates projected to climb to nearly six per cent. The demand is particularly high for food service supervisors, cooks and hotel front-desk clerks.
鈥淚nternational students have been a crucial part of our workforce in the past听鈥 especially in culinary and housekeeping roles,鈥 says Hani Roustom, CEO of Friday Harbour Resort, an upscale waterside community on Lake Simcoe.
Roustom, who regularly employs Georgian College students, has noticed a decline in summer applications. While he describes it as 鈥渘ot drastic,鈥 it鈥檚 enough to spark concern for the future.
鈥淗ospitality is a growing industry with incredible career opportunities, and international students have played a key role in that success,鈥 he says, noting colleges have become the main conduit for skilled employees.
Ontario鈥檚 24 publicly funded in culinary, hospitality, recreation and tourism, the majority of which are two-year diplomas.
International enrolment has been high in this field. Niagara College had 466 international versus 64 domestic students across four hospitality/tourism programs last fall; at Humber Polytechnic, this winter, there were 352 international and 49 domestic students in Hotel and Restaurant Operations, Management and 197 international students compared to 49 in its travel services; meanwhile, at George Brown, 40 per cent of the 3,000 students enrolled in hospitality and culinary arts are from abroad.
Fanshi Du, a 33-year-old from China, came to Georgian College two years ago to blend his accounting background with hospitality and tourism. He was drawn by the program’s hands-on approach: 鈥淓verything鈥檚 for real. Theory first, then practice.鈥
Critics argue the field is a shortcut to permanent residency, but educators say it鈥檚 much more. Students learn to translate financial statements, communicate effectively, solve problems and build connections 鈥 skills that go beyond making a bed.
鈥淎m I going to say it is as difficult as a diploma in paralegal studies or accounting?鈥 says Bryan Hunt, Georgian鈥檚 dean of hospitality. 鈥淧robably not, but it鈥檚 a different skills set we鈥檙e trying to cultivate.鈥
As an international student, Du worked his allowable 24 hours a week as a kitchen helper in a fast-food restaurant. Before graduating in August, he鈥檒l complete a co-op in guest services and as a night auditor at a Muskoka resort. He hopes to apply for permanent residency.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a challenging industry to work in,鈥 acknowledges Hunt, whose newly expanded title includes automotive and business, reflecting the kind of structural retrenchment occurring on college campuses. 鈥淭he hours are long; you don鈥檛 get the traditional holidays off and generally pay tends to be on the lower end of the scale.鈥
But that鈥檚 just getting your foot in the door, say industry experts. 鈥淓ntry-level positions are not where people end up; it鈥檚 where they start,鈥 says TIAO president Andrew Siegwart, dismissing the notion that tourism careers don’t offer the progression or salary of other sectors. “We need to do a better job articulating those career pathways.鈥
Swarbrick partly blames a common narrative in Canadian households, where if a teenager expresses interest in working at a hotel, the response tends to be, 鈥淲ell, I think you can do better.鈥
This misperception, coupled with a dwindling population of Canadian-born youth, led to a scarcity of domestic students entering this field.
Meanwhile, more than a decade of government underfunding and a provincial tuition freeze drove post-secondary institutions, colleges in particular, to听turn to international students 鈥 who pay significantly higher tuition 鈥 to fill seats and keep programs afloat.
This led to explosive growth and a scapegoating of international students for the country鈥檚 housing woes. In response, Canada鈥檚 immigration ministry听, further .
Additional restrictions to the international study program rolled out. And last fall, when the ministry released a list of 966 study programs that international students must be enrolled in听to qualify for a post-graduate work permit听鈥 purportedly based on labour needs听鈥 hospitality and tourism did not make the cut despite having been included in the original draft.
Ontario colleges 鈥 鈥 have pushed back against the sweeping measure, arguing it ignores the unique demands of local and regional economies.
鈥淥ur location within one of Canada鈥檚 premier tourism destinations gives us a unique perspective” on the impact, says Niagara College spokesperson Michael Wales. 鈥淭his is an industry that employs tens of thousands of people locally, and area hotels, restaurants and attractions rely heavily on (our) graduates. We simply can鈥檛 meet their labour needs with domestic students alone.鈥
Last November, Nolan Quinn, Ontario鈥檚 minister of colleges and universities, pressed to have nine fields of study in hospitality and tourism added to the post-grad work permit list. 鈥淯nfortunately,鈥 said ministry spokesperson Bianca Giacoboni, 鈥渢he federal government did not recognize the necessity for regional and local lenses to be applied to the list, particularly for Ontario’s hospitality and tourism sectors.鈥
Industry organizations and colleges have been lobbying for change, but with a federal election and tariff war, it has been difficult to gain traction, they say.
The immigration department would not answer specific questions from the Star, but a spokesperson said the ministry 鈥渨ill continue to work closely with provinces and territories, designated learning institutions and national education stakeholders to develop a sustainable path forward for international students.鈥
R茅mi Larivi猫re added that while the department would not speculate on future policy decisions, 鈥渨e anticipate refreshing the list” every year of fields of study eligible for postgrad work permits.
Student Fanshi Du of the Hospitality 鈥 Hotel and Resort Operations Management program, left, in class with instructor Alyson Swarbrick.
Nick Kozak for the 海角社区官网StarIn the meantime, the message the decision sends, says TIAO鈥檚 Siegwart, is clear: if you study in this field, your chances of staying in Canada are slim. So why, he asks, would anyone enrol in a specialized hospitality program only to be shut out of the job market? 鈥淭he drop in the number of students was bad; this made it even worse.鈥
Some of the province’s most recognized colleges for hospitality and tourism education say they expect international enrolment to drop this fall by 60 to 100 per cent.听
At Georgian, the signs are already there. An annual job fair in February that normally would have attracted 1,000 students saw 600 show up to seek co-op or post-graduate work in the industry. Hunt predicts next year there will be 300.
鈥淥ur students often take jobs domestic students don鈥檛 want: the night shift at the gas station, the early bakery shift at Tim Hortons,鈥 says Swarbrick, adding people are already starting to wonder, 鈥淲here鈥檚 the staff? Why is my coffee taking longer?鈥 She expects resorts and hotels will begin to feel the pinch this summer, too.
And in a year鈥檚 time, she warns, it will be clear 鈥渟omething is broken.鈥
Correction — April 21, 2025
This article has been updated. In a previous version,听Maureen Adamson, interim president and CEO of Colleges Ontario, stated: 鈥淭here is no longer a single culinary program offered in eastern Ontario.” In fact,听Algonquin College, in eastern Ontario, does still offer a few of these programs. Incorrect information was provided to the Star.
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