After holding a coffee break with faculty and staff this morning, Sault College president David Orazietti told SooToday that nothing is off the table when it comes to balancing the budget.
“We are currently looking at all assets in the organization and trying to ensure that we've got the greatest utilization and the greatest value for the organization,” said Orazietti, adding that the board is keeping union leaders up to speed on its plans.
“Everyone is aware that we are working to address the deficit in the organization and that we're scheduled to bring a budget for approval to the board on June 5," he said.
“Whether it's property, facilities, looking at leasing opportunities with outside organizations, looking at whether or not a particular aspect of the organization is something that continues to generate revenue for the organization and is sustainable.”
Orazietti said the board will do its due diligence when looking at the budget.
“We've got an obligation to do that for everyone that works in this organization to ensure that we're getting the best value for the assets that we have,” he said.
“We're working through difficult decisions right now in relation to our operations to try to make sure that the college is sustainable long term,” he said.
Some of those difficult decisions have meant a reduction in staff, cutting programs and other cost saving measures.
In an email to faculty and staff obtained by SooToday in April, Orazietti said the college’s economic challenges are “driven by the ongoing underfunding of post-secondary education and, more recently, dramatic shifts in federal policy affecting international students.”
The email points out that in 2023, the college was allocated 3,530 international student permits. In 2024, that number dropped to 1,293 — a 63 per cent reduction.
“This has created a considerable gap in our budget, as international tuition has been a critical part of our financial model, contributing roughly $40 million annually,” Orazietti wrote.
During Thursday's coffee break, Orazietti took questions from faculty and staff on a one-on-one basis.
Afterward, he said he didn’t field any questions about the investigation taking place after an administrative employee filed a complaint against him, described in SooToday on Wednesday.
The discussions focused on departmental and operational issues.
“Some individuals were talking about academic upgrading and how to increase the opportunities for people in the community to come to the college,” he said.
“There's a free program to do your academic upgrading . . . to get your GED.”
When asked if the domestic tuition freeze implemented by Premier Doug Ford in 2019 – after Ford reduced tuition by 10 per cent – should be lifted, Orazietti said the length of the freeze has been problematic.
“And I don't say that lightly because I understand the costs of post-secondary education and that many families and students are struggling to find resources to pay the cost.”
Orazietti said roughly 70 per cent of Sault College students receive loans through the Ontario Student Assistance Program.
The long-term freeze makes it difficult to sustain programs that are important to the community, he said.
“Programs that young people and families in our community are counting on being here at this college and may have an interest in enroling in might not be able to be offered if we aren't able to properly fund and support the resources and the instructional costs of delivering that program.
“Someone may save $100 or $200 and that is significant to any student, but the difference is if that program isn't there, what costs are they going to incur if they now have to leave the community and go elsewhere to get this program in southern Ontario or another community?” Orazietti said.