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Humber President Ann Marie Vaughan met with IGNITE, Humber’s student union, after it sent a letter raising concerns about budget cuts potentially impacting student services.
The meeting followed an April 8 town hall at North campus hosted by Vaughan, where she announced that Humber wants to identify $26 million in efficiencies, cost reductions, and new sources of revenue.
Humber is projecting a deficit of $53.2 million, including inflationary and efficiency-related costs.
“We wanna be sure that the units that support, particularly those that support revenue generation, are sufficient and positioned the right way so that we can generate half of this through new revenue sources,” she said.
Naisha Suthaharan, a student advocate at IGNITE, said the organization advocated for finding alternative solutions to avoid any cuts in student services.
“We put a lot of emphasis on student-tailored services. So for me, a big one was SWAC (Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre) because I think mental health is so, so important. But there was also the Math and Writing Centre, which was brought up so that the school can prioritize that more,” Suthaharan said.
Other issues discussed included unpaid work, housing and residence, on-campus food, and making more amenities available.
The April 15 student town hall was attended by five IGNITE members, including managers, coordinators and one student external to the union at the Humber North residence conference room.
When asked about the process of invitation for the student town halls, Suthaharan followed up with a post-interview email.
“We aren’t 100 per cent sure how it was spread to students, but what we do know is that it was accessible to all students,” Suthaharan said in an email.
The student body didn’t receive any emails regarding the same, nor was there any notice on IGNITE’s news board.
The town hall panel included Jennifer O’Brien, VP of people(s) and culture, Gina Antonacci, senior VP academic, Sanjay Puri, VP administration and CFO, and Vaughan.
The panel indicated that the polytechnic is expected to announce its cut decisions by next month. Cuts are being anticipated in administration, support staff and faculty.
“In January, I noted that we have the benefit of time to reposition ourselves before major reductions will be required,” Vaughan told a town hall. “However, that time is limited, and the potential consequences will soon become more difficult to manage if we don't start making decisions now.”
Reductions could include shedding part-time and partial-load faculty members, while reassigning full-time faculty.
“As Ann Marie said at the town hall, like it's a cost savings measure they want because the thing is with a full timer, we get a constant salary, regardless of how much we work,” said Milos Vasic, the president of the faculty union, OPSEU Local 562.
“That way, you can save money by not giving contracts to non-full-time,” he said.
Vaughan emphasized these decisions are not being made “quickly or in isolation,” and are important for Humber’s long-term financial stability.
She also launched an online forum inviting staff to share ideas for new revenue generation and efficiency committees.
“Your input over the next 12 to 18 months will play a key role in shaping Humber's future, and I strongly encourage you to share your ideas,” Vaughan said.
The vice-presidents are scheduling times with six of Humber’s faculties to explain the financial situation and collect ideas on revenue generation.
However, Vasic called the initiative performative and a showcase of inclusivity.
“Sure, ideas are ideas, but it's not the staff's responsibility to generate ideas, or revenue, for that matter,” he said.
Vasic also pointed to an absence of a statement on the senior administration structure.
“We can't even actually get a sense of what the organizational structure is, let alone transparency in terms of whether that structure is efficient or not, or whether, you know, savings could be had,” he said. “These are incredibly expensive positions. Anne Marie Vaughan, you know, she got a 12 per cent raise last year.”
According to the 2025 Sunshine List, the combined salaries of the top three positions at Humber amount to about $1.2 million.
The faculty union has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to get Humber’s organizational structure after asking for it multiple times.
The budget plan also includes a 25 per cent reduction in discretionary spending, such as travel, food, and professional development, with exceptions made for travel related to student recruitment.
According to the panel, a voluntary retirement package resulted in 44 accepted offers, saving $2.7 million in this year’s budget. Additionally, a structural surplus of $10 million from the 2024-25 budget and a $40 million contingency fund will help offset this year’s shortfall.
Vaughan also highlighted the success of Humber’s $1.3 million “The You Knew Was In You” marketing campaign, generating 35.7 million impressions.
A draft budget will be presented to the Board of Governors in June, with a final version expected in the fall.
Humber is currently below its enrolment targets.
The enrolment corridor, or target, is a part of the Strategic Mandate Agreements (SMAs). These agreements tie government funding to enrolment and alignment with provincial priorities.
Vaughan says the polytechnic avoided an expected $2.4 million penalty for not meeting the corridor by introducing STEM-related programs.
“We intend to continue prioritizing this area of programming, and we've been notified that for this year, we'll receive $500,000 towards that. So it's important for us to keep pushing STEM-related programming to receive the revenue that we need,” she said.
The board of governors approved 37 new programs in 2024.
Vaughan said Humber is expanding offerings in STEM fields such as heating, refrigeration, mechanical technician, and diagnostic cardiac sonography.
She said she will keep meeting with the Premier’s Office and the colleges and university ministry to highlight Humber’s alignment with labour market priorities.
“The government is committed to doing a review of this corridor in the next couple of years, and we wanna be ready. We wanna have ourselves up and in that corridor with new programs, new students, so that we can continue to raise new revenue in the years to come," Vaughan said.
Sterling Crowe, associate dean of Student Wellness and Equitable Learning, raised concerns about the lack of discussion on staffing in budgets with growing program development.
“I think one is the consideration for student services associated with introduction of new programs, and I think about our health programs which have an increased amount of medical clearances that happen through our clinics and how we don't often advocate or plan from a budget perspective for a similar increase in nursing staff,” Crowe said.
Et Cetera reported on counsellor staffing concerns in SWAC in October last year.
In total, five programs have been suspended for the upcoming academic year.
“This should not be interpreted as any result of any of the changes in funding or demographics that we're seeing,” Vaughan said. “As we continue to respond to the shifting landscape, we're focused on developing and delivering programs that are responsive to industry demands and our students’ evolving interests and needs.”
Humber also secured 200 additional Provincial Attestation Letters (PAL) by the provincial government. A PAL allows an international student to apply for a study permit at a specific Designated Learning Institution.
Vaughan says Humber must meet 50 per cent of its enrolment target by June.
“The provincial government has indicated they'll re-allocate PALs to institutions showing growth," Vaughan said. "This can actually be good for us, because if we hit our 50 per cent or more, we have the opportunity to get more attestation letters.”
Vaughan says she has been advocating to federal ministers about the impacts of the recent cap on international student enrolment and is currently pushing for hospitality and culinary programs.
“That's an area where we traditionally had large student populations, particularly international students,” Vaughan said.
“And for some, I don't know reason, the federal government, it’s not the provincial government, seems to think that we don't need these programs,” she said.
While Vaughan was critical of the federal government’s role in colleges’ financial challenges, there was no comment on Ontario’s domestic tuition freeze or the province’s status as the lowest per-student post-secondary funder in Canada.
“Advocacy is probably correct at the federal level because the thing is, colleges and universities are not governed by the federal government. They're governed by the provincial government,” Vasic said.
“Where it gets more important is what the colleges and universities do with respect to the provincial government. Right? I think that's where you need more than simply advocacy,” he said.
Guillermo Acosta, the senior dean of the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts, also made a “plea” for the arts and cultural sector.
“When we talk about STEM, we can’t forget the 'A' of STEAM and the contributions of arts and culture to creativity, mental health and economic growth,” he said. “So when we are talking about advocacy for the hospitality and tourism, I think the arts and culture should be (doing) advocacy at the provincial and federal levels.”
Vaughan said the arts are important for the communities and will be happy to advocate for it. However, labour market evidence is required for the “federal government to move.”
“It is difficult to advocate this on a federal level, but that's where we have to take that advocacy because it's not the provincial government that's impacting what gets on that list, it's the federal government," she said.
An international student must graduate from a list of programs outlined by the federal government to be eligible for a post-study work permit in Canada.
The fields of study include agriculture and agri-food, education, health care, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), trade and transport.
Ontario’s post-secondary SMAs continue to emphasize these same sectors, linking funding directly to how well institutions align with government priorities.
On the domestic front, the Progressive Conservative government reduced domestic tuition fees by 10 per cent in 2019 and has frozen them ever since.
The last town hall meeting of April will be on April 21 at the Lakeshore campus.
