Employees were notified of the impacts which include layoffs and reassignments in a webinar meeting on Tuesday CAMBRIDGE – More than 150 support staff employees at Conestoga College have been affected in the college's latest round of reductions, according to a union president. Vikki Poirier, president of OPSEU Local 238 representing full- and part-time support staff at Conestoga, explained in a phone call members were notified of this in a single webinar-style meeting on Tuesday rather than in usual individual meetings. “Due to the magnitude and number of people affected, it was just not possible or supported by the college to do individual meetings,” Poirier said. She did not have the precise number of how many were laid off but noted here were three categories of those who were impacted. Probationary members were provided a two week notice that their relationship with the college had ended, some were reassigned which may bump others out of a position and some were simply laid off as there was nowhere to reassign them. “It’s been a heavy day,” Poirier said. Poirier said many of those laid off were newer employees as the college had hired a lot of people over the past couple of years in anticipation of continued high enrolment. International students—who pay much higher fees than their domestic counterparts—at one time made up a significant portion of Conestoga's student population. In 2022, the college brought in nearly 30,000 international students with 42,000 full time students in total attending the college, double what it was in 2020. In 2025, the federal government put a cap of 437,000 study permits to manage the number of international students coming into the country, a 10 per cent decrease from the 2024 cap. The college said in a past statement it expected to see a drop of more than 50 per cent in its international enrolment. This is not the first round of layoffs to hit the college, early in April, it was learned Conestoga had eliminated an unknown number of administrative positions and had notified support staff of upcoming layoffs in a letter by college president John Tibbits. In his letter, Tibbits acknowledged the broader challenges faced by Ontario colleges. “Institutions have responded by shuttering programs, making significant reductions in staff and closing campuses,” he wrote. “Conestoga has also been impacted by these reductions.” Poirier did not put the blame solely on the college but pointed to underfunding by the province as a major cause. “If we were properly funded as a college by the province, we wouldn’t be in this spot,” Poirier said. “We’re supposed to be a place where our kids can go to get a post-secondary education and they can’t because we’re not properly funded and they can’t run their business.” A request for comment from Conestoga College was not immediately returned.