Monday’s Algonquin College board of governors meeting felt like “watching a tractor-trailer unit plow through your house in slow motion,” according to Larry Hoedl, a museum studies professor. “You can just see it happening. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. Watching it online like that, you’re not allowed to participate, you’re not allowed to make your voice heard, you’re just a silent observer,” Hoedl stated. He described the experience as “quite frustrating and quite sad.”
Unanimous Decision to Eliminate Programs
The online-only meeting ended with a unanimous vote to cancel seven programs and phase out 23 others, totaling 30 cuts. Affected programs include journalism, horticulture, music industry arts, and museum studies. The college first proposed the cuts in January due to financial pressures, postponing the decision in February after the province revealed a new funding formula for post-secondary institutions.
Algonquin College President and CEO Claude Brulé noted that while details of the provincial funding remain under embargo, the institution must proceed with mitigation steps. Hoedl anticipated the outcome early, stating, “I was fully confident when it was initially announced in January that we were done.”
Lack of Consultation and Evaluation Criteria
Neither faculty nor their union received consultation on the cuts, Hoedl said, with no “meaningful reasons” provided for targeting these specific programs. Senior Vice-President Academic Julie Beauchamp explained that selections relied on each program’s financial contribution and alignment with Ontario’s priorities, such as health care, skilled trades, construction, transportation, mining, energy, advanced manufacturing, and STEM fields.
Hoedl lamented the impact on his career: “For me, my teaching career is over. There’s no other program like ours where I would be happy or feel rewarded.”
Students and Coordinators Feel Sidelined
Program coordinators question how their offerings met suspension criteria, given local industries’ reliance on graduates. Despite campaigns, including 11,000 emails from the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition to board members, officials, and executives, efforts failed to sway the decision. Colin Mills, coordinator and professor in the music industry arts program, remarked, “I don’t know if they had any interest in hearing anything.”
Law clerk student Matthew Sévigny highlighted the virtual meeting’s limitations: “There was no room for feedback. Again, Artificial Intelligence-generated response emails, closed off meetings — it just shows that they care about one thing and that is the bottom line of this college, and not about their decisions that affect students, faculty and the larger Ottawa community.”
Sévigny can complete his program, but paralegal students face disruption. He praised faculty expertise, adding, “A lot of our professors are former or currently practising lawyers, so to have them come here and teach us is really a blessing, and the fact that future generations won’t have that because of greed is infuriating.”
Concerns Over Ongoing Cuts
The province’s February investment totals $6.4 billion, lifts the tuition freeze, and reduces OSAP grants, though full details await release. NDP MPP Chandra Pasma for Ottawa-West Nepean worries it falls short: “We haven’t seen the details yet, but I’m worried that this might not be the end of the cuts because we’re just not seeing that stable base funding for our colleges and universities that would ensure we’re able to continue all programs.”
Tracey Henderson, president of OPSEU 415 representing academic staff, criticized the college’s transparency: “I will not be surprised if they take the approach to continue slashing programs. We’ve lost almost 70 programs in the last year, so we are concerned. When does it stop?”
