International enrolment continues to decline, putting financial strain on Dalhousie

Dalhousie University over projected international student enrolment for the 2025-26 academic year by over 600 students. 

“It’s going to have a really multi-layered negative effect on Dalhousie,” says Ajay Parasram, an international development studies professor at the university. 

Dalhousie had 2,713 full-time international students enrolled as of Oct. 1, according to a preliminary survey released by the Association of Atlantic Universities on Oct 15. The figure represents a 20.9 per cent decrease from the previous year’s 3,429 enrolled students. 

The university’s active operating budget projected that 3,382 international students would be enrolled for the 2025-26 academic year. 

“If the university is trying to paint international students as the much needed and coveted cash cow that’s going to solve our financial problems, it’s wrong, that’s not the case,” says Parasram. 

“It was never a good strategy.”

During the Dalhousie Faculty Association lockout at the beginning of the fall semester, a statement released by Kim Brooks, president of Dalhousie, said the university’s “revenue model has changed” due to the international student cap.

“Just four years ago, one in four of our students was an international student; last year, it was close to one in six,” Brooks said.

Projections in the budget go as far as 2027-28, when the university estimated it would have 3,052 international students enrolled.

“Dalhousie takes a coordinated, data-informed approach to international recruitment that aligns with government policy, institutional priorities, and long-term sustainability,” said Mike Fleury, the senior manager of strategic communications and media relations at Dalhousie in a statement to the Dalhousie Gazette.

“We continue to work collaboratively with the Province on issuing [provincial attestation letters] to eligible international applicants to Dalhousie programs, and on delivering programs that equip graduates with the knowledge and skills to support our region’s needs.”

Federal cap impacts international enrolment

In January 2024, Canada’s federal government capped the number of study permits it issued, reducing the number of incoming international students by 40 per cent in its first year. 

In January 2025, the federal government decreased the number of permits by an additional 10 per cent. A statement posted to the federal government’s website said the cap was introduced to strengthen Canada’s international student program and reduce strain on the housing market.

The cap was expected to result in 360,000 approved permits for 2024, a 35 per cent decrease from 2023. The federal government issued just 267,890 new permits over the calendar year. The cap has since been extended through 2026. 

The Canadian government projected it will issue 155,000 study permits for international students in 2026 in the recently passed federal budget.

“The changes to international student study permits for 2026 are a federal policy decision,” said Chloee Sampson, the communications advisor for Nova Scotia’s department of education, in an emailed statement to the Gazette. “It’s important to note that in 2025, post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia were well under the federal cap that was set for international student study permits.”

Sampson says the department works with universities to create “long-term international student sustainability plans” that help them recruit and support students from abroad. 

“In recruiting international students, we encourage institutions to prioritize students who will make valuable contributions to our province including areas of high labour-market need, such as, healthcare, defence, natural resources and the skilled trades.”

Computer science sees declines

According to Dalhousie’s most recent enrolment reports, published using information up to Dec. 1, 2024, the university’s computer science faculty had the highest international student enrolment of any faculty, with 696 students. 884 international students were enrolled in the program in Dec. 1, 2023.

Andrew Rau-Chaplin is the dean of the faculty of computer science at Dalhousie. He says that while the international student cap does factor into the department’s declining enrolment, he does not expect the decrease to negatively impact the program’s future.

However, he says that both Canada and Nova Scotia need to be strategic in attracting the “very best talent in areas of need.” 

“What does it mean to say we want to support healthcare?” says Rau-Chaplin. “A significant number of [computer science] graduates end up in healthcare.”

Who’s to blame?

Within Dalhousie’s active operating budget, 43.7 per cent of the university’s projected revenue for 2025-26 comes from the tuition it receives from total student enrolment. The university projected that international students would contribute to 29.6 per cent of the net revenue from tuition fees.

Parasram says that university workers and students at Dalhousie are being blamed for a lack of provincial funding that Dalhousie receives. If this continues, he says there could be an increase in labour disruptions around the university. 

“That’s not what we want for our students.”

While he understands that provincial funding is outside of the university’s control, he says there are alternative options for Dalhousie to recoup some of the losses from international student tuition revenue. 

“I understand, appreciate and empathize deeply with the fact that the province has been not fulfilling its obligations in terms of keeping up with adequate funding for the universities,” says Parasram. 

“But to think that international students are the way to make up that difference, that’s totally unacceptable to me.”