Faculty association frustrated Langara has not responded to claim 200 members have lost work

By SAGE SMITH

The Langara Faculty Association says it remains frustrated that the college has not responded to its claim that more than 200 instructors have lost work.

LFA president Pauline Greaves said she had not received answers from the college this week about questions raised from a recent college board meeting and town hall. 

“They’re trying to play down the fact that we’ve lost a lot of faculty,” Greaves said Wednesday.

Greaves said the LFA’s estimate of 200 members losing work came from comparing the number of faculty who paid union dues in September 2023 to September 2024 for a decline of 165 members. The association added to that number the 22 faculty who received layoff notices last month and 15 who took early retirement as part of a college attempt to reduce expenses in the face of a large budget deficit.

Langara College is expecting to finish the fiscal year, ending March 31, with a $2 million deficit due to a sharp reduction in international student enrolment from abrupt changes in federal and provincial policy. In response, the college has cut budgets, laid off faculty and cancelled courses. 

Langara College spokesman Adam Brayford said by email to the Voice Tuesday that 21 permanent faculty received layoff notices in 2025. Of those, he said 12 received a partial reduction in work. 

He said temporary faculty are facing uncertainty as their contracts conclude at the end of their term and that overall reductions have affected many instructors. 

He said the college offered approximately 180 fewer course sections in 2024-25 compared to the previous year, reducing teaching opportunities.

His email did not mention the LFA’s estimate that over 200 staff have lost work. 

LFA says administration is failing to engage in “positive, productive way”

Greaves expects another wave of layoffs in the next few weeks. 

She said the college’s layoff process is “incredibly insulting” with many faculty receiving layoff notices by email.

Greaves said temporary faculty are being hit especially hard by the decline in work. 

“These are faculty who cannot feed their family. They can’t buy groceries, pay their rent, pay their mortgage or transportation,” she said. “But they are not entitled to severance because they have one continuing or two continuing sections.”

Greaves said the process highlights administrative weaknesses in the college. “They’re a bad employer,” she said. “They don’t take the necessary steps to really engage in a productive, positive way.”  

$2 million deficit approved by provincial government

Emotions ran high last Thursday when nearly 80 faculty members attended the college’s board of governors meeting where Greaves asked the board for clarity on job losses. 

Limited space meant some faculty could not enter the board room, and some banged on the doors after they were locked. Eventually, the administration provided a Zoom link to view the meeting.

Board chair Mary Lynn Baum said at the meeting the college is engaging in a number of initiatives to reduce the current deficit of $2 million. These include eliminating vacant positions, seeking supplier discounts, an 11 per cent cut in the strategic transformation office budget and reducing the college’s administrative travel and entertainment budget by 25 per cent. 

The board recently approved a two per cent tuition hike for both domestic and international students, effective in May. This follows on a two per cent tuition increase in May 2024.  

The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills said in an email to the Voice Wednesday that it has approved the college’s request to run a deficit, which B.C. colleges are prohibited from doing. It said other post-secondary institutions have also been granted approval to run deficits. 

Addressing the board directly at last Thursday’s meeting, Greaves said the “ship has hit the iceberg, the ship is sinking and people are drowning.” To loud applause from faculty, she asked when the administration would reduce the over 170 managerial positions, which she said cost the college over $21 million annually. 

Baum thanked Greaves for her passion and research. “I can admit that we struggle with the exact numbers.” she said. 

Baum apologized for any miscommunications around the strategic plans. “We will go back and make sure that we do that work,” she said.

Contentious board of governors meeting leaves layoff questions unanswered

Various instructors spoke at the meeting, saying they were frustrated, sad and concerned about the direction of the college. 

Niall Christie, an LFA board member and the chair of the department of history, Latin and political science, said he was shocked the college was unable to provide numbers about staff affected by layoffs. 

“If your HR department isn’t able to tell you how many faculty have been lost, I think you seriously need to look at your HR department,” he said. 

After Thursday’s meeting, Brayford said the college is working to provide more details about faculty job loss and has not had a chance to review the LFA calculations. “Once we have accurate data we will share that,” he said.  

Brayford said the college has offered all administrators a “voluntary departure incentive” and will be finding out at the end of this month how many have taken advantage of it.  

He said the college is also working on student recruitment and retention. 

 

Langara not suffering alone

Kwantlen and VCC also facing layoffs this month 

By SAGE SMITH

Langara is not alone in suffering financial losses and layoffs as a result of rapidly implemented international student caps. 

Frank Cosco, president of the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association, said that they are expecting nearly 60 layoffs to occur this week, narrowly avoiding a deficit. 

Kwantlen Polytechnic University announced on March 10 that it will be issuing “full or partial layoff notices to approximately 70 faculty members.” It projects a decline of $49 million in revenue, but is not projecting a deficit this year. 

Cosco said that he sat down with the VCC president Tuesday morning to discuss these layoffs, adding the college has been transparent and communicative. 

Cosco said the federal government had a “knee-jerk reaction, a way overreaction, and just started cutting and slashing left right and centre.” He said post-secondary institutions could have avoided “all this trauma” if they reduced the numbers much more slowly. 

Kwantlen and Langara College were hit by new provincial caps restricting international students to 30 per cent of total enrolment. 

According to various sources, in the 2022-23 school year, Kwantlen was at 40 per cent and Langara at 38.6 per cent. 

Adam Brayford, Langara College spokesman, said that post-secondary schools across Canada are working together to lobby the provincial and federal government.

He said they want governments “to understand the impact that the rapidness of their policy changes has had on us.”

Brayford said all schools are grappling with reduced enrolment, adding “it’s a real struggle to survive.”