Algonquin College approves cuts to 41 courses. Here’s just how impactful it will be

No more hope: It’s the end of the line for 41 programs at Algonquin College that are being cut in a drastic effort to save money. The college's board of governors approved the changes on Feb. 24. 

Admissions will be suspended to 37 active programs in Ottawa and Pembroke starting in September of this year. Four dormant programs — Anesthesia Assistant, Action Sports Parks Development, Office Administration and Spa and Wellness Management — are also being stopped, reported CTV. 

Students who are in the courses will have the opportunity to graduate, but no new students will be admitted. 

Why is this happening? The institution is strapped for cash. Algonquin president and CEO Claude Brulé said the college would face a budget deficit of at least $60 million in 2025-2026 and $93 million by 2026-2027 if nothing was done. He blamed the cuts on provincial tuition freezes and caps the federal government put on foreign students. 

• “Nothing in the history of the college compares to this extraordinary and unprecedented context against which we are working decisively and with a sense of urgency," Brulé said at the start of the meeting, according to CBC. 

The school also noted it would be "irresponsible" at this point to say no further cuts were coming, leaving the door open. Some of the programs being cut do have high domestic enrollment numbers but were not financially viable due to the tuition freezes. 

Campus closure: Algonquin’s Perth campus is closing altogether in spring 2026 after losing $2.1 million this year. Its entire budget is $3.3 million.

• The Pembroke campus is not at risk of closing. 

Police training facility moving: The Ottawa Police Service has been told by Algonquin College it’s terminating its lease to run a training facility at the campus after 20 years, reported Capital Current. 

The site was built in the early 2000s and features traditional classrooms and offices, along with study areas, a simulation lab, a defensive tactics studio and a firing range.  

Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell says they are considering relocating the training facility to a new police station being built in Barrhaven. They are also negotiating to retain access to Algonquin’s firing facility for five years.  

Radio broadcasting, scriptwriting, and other media courses are among those being cut 

A total of 12 programs are being cut from Algonquin’s School of Media and Design. In some cases, students will need to move hours away to find an equivalent replacement. 

Former CBC weathercaster Teri Loretto is Algonquin College’s program coordinator for the performing arts and scriptwriting program, which are both on the chopping block. She told the Lookout it was unfortunate to see the decisions made so quickly and so firmly. 

”We were given notice at 9 o'clock on a weekday night to come in or go on zoom at nine the next morning,” said Loretto. “(There was) no opportunity to speak to individual merit, no opportunity to defend the programs or perhaps find other means of delivery that might be less financially straining and maintain the learner's ability to learn what they needed to learn.”

Loretto said she became a teacher later in life after 40 years of freelance work to pass her skills on to the next generation. But now they will need to travel further distances to access the same level of education — and in some cases out of Canada. 

One of those was the wastewater management program that was cancelled at the Ottawa campus last year and moved to Pembroke. It’s not available anywhere else in the region but plays a vital role for Indigenous communities where clean water is pivotal to their existence. 

For the scriptwriting program Loretto teaches, the Toronto Film School offers a similar program, but costs a lot more to attend. 

“You’d pay eight times more and do it all online,” she said, noting even then it’s not the same. 

“There's nothing that offers script writing. We do stage plays, comic books, game scenes, podcasts, social media, films, short films, and television shows. We are scriptwriters, not just screenwriters, and our work is everywhere across the industry,” said Loretto. 

Amatur Rahman Salam-Alada started the script writing program at Algonquin in September because it was cheaper than programs offered in university. She said her section was also based on Ottawa’s growing film industry which has hired many Algonquin students. 

“This program is very diverse in the sense it’s more than screenwriting. It teaches digital media writing like for writing ads, marketing, and also writing for content in general. You learn how to make self-produced content,” said Rahman Salam-Alada. “Getting a job is harder these days and you have to promote and market yourself more. You often need to get your own film business started.”

Rahman Salam-Alada also said it helps to get advice from people who have worked in the industry. During the course she’s started building a portfolio, worked on a number of short films, and is hoping to get recognized by an agent. 

The movie maker hopeful would like to see other students have the same opportunities and hopes the government will remove the caps on foreign students. 

“It feels kind of not cool for a country to say we're all about opportunity and culture but then won’t invest in education,” said Rahman Salam-Alada. “I know quite a few international students who came here and had to pay a lot. One of my friends came from Russia and she had to pay $30,000.”

So what can be done instead of the cuts?

“I am personally not a financial wizard, but some have suggested perhaps it's not time for management to take their bonuses this year. Perhaps it's not time to look at multimillion-billion dollar building projects that are supposed to begin imminently,” said Loretto. “I do agree with the college's decision to look at some retirement. There are some folks that have been fabulous, but they've been teaching for 50 years. It might be a time when they step away to allow two or three younger faculty members to retain their jobs and programs.”

Loretto would also like to see if some of the more specialty programs could perhaps be offered every second year with twice the number of students. 

The full list of programs can be found here.