When Erin Bomphray opened her email while on summer vacation, she didn’t expect to find a notice that would end her 21-year teaching career at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
“I was on holidays when I was told my position had been laid off,” she said. “It was a surprise. We used to have 600 students, and now there are about 100.”
Bomphray taught in the School of Business from 2004 until August 2025. She said the news arrived suddenly, just before staff were due to return for the fall term.
“I was emailed while I was still on holidays and called into a meeting,” she said. “I could accept the layoff, bump other people, or remain on the return list so that when they hire, they could take me back.”
For Bomphray, the layoff itself wasn’t as troubling as what it signalled for her colleagues.
“They’re losing really experienced faculty that care,” she said. “The recent cuts to counselling, it’s really hard to see, because that kind of stuff is free and important for student development.”
The impact has also been felt at the Prince Albert campus, where students recently found the bookstore closed and some services scaled back. The change has added to concerns about how reduced staffing and amenities could affect student life. While Sask Polytech has not said whether the closure is permanent, the move has deepened uncertainty on regional campuses.
In August 2025 Saskatchewan Polytechnic confirmed another round of layoffs across its campuses as international-student enrollment dropped by roughly 40 percent. The institution cited a major revenue shortfall and said difficult staffing decisions were necessary to balance its budget.
According to Sask Polytech’s most recent budget update, international enrollment had supported a significant portion of the institution’s operating funds. The 40 percent decline, combined with federal policy changes that limited study-permit approvals and rising housing costs, left campuses facing difficult financial choices.
International students have long been a major source of tuition revenue for Saskatchewan Polytechnic, paying substantially higher rates, more than double the amount of domestic students, depending on the program and campus.
In 2023, the federal government also increased the Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) requirement for international students from $10,000 to $20,635, nearly doubling the amount of savings newcomers must show to study in Canada. The change, meant to reflect higher living costs, added another financial barrier for many prospective students.
Bomphray said she chose to move on rather than challenge the decision. Two years earlier she had earned her real estate license and was already working part-time in the field.
“I love being an entrepreneur, and I love the opportunities that it’s brought for me,” she said. “For me, taking the layoff didn’t impact me in any kind of negative way, but that’s because of choices I made two years ago.”
She added that many of her former colleagues remain uneasy about what comes next.
“I’m really sad about the impact that it’ll have on faculty,” she said. “They’re living in fear of more layoffs, because you can’t run a school without students.”
Across Canada, colleges and universities have reported similar declines in international-student numbers following federal limits on study permits earlier this year. For many institutions, those students represented a vital source of tuition revenue that helped sustain programs and staff.
Sask Polytech said in a recent statement that it continues to adjust to changing enrollment patterns and remains committed to delivering high-quality programs across the province.
Bomphray said she still keeps in touch with former colleagues and worries about the uncertainty they face.
“I know the faculty I’ve spoken to recently; they’re living in fear of more layoffs,” she said again, pausing. “Having no students, the changes to the programs and stuff is scary.”
