Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario, is pulling the plug on 24 programs spanning arts, sciences, culinary arts, and carpentry, a move confirmed last week that mirrors cuts rippling through rural colleges province-wide. While current students can finish their degrees—some programs wrapping up as early as April 2025, others stretching to April 2027—no new applicants will be accepted. Alongside this, the college is trimming its faculty by a hefty 20 percent, shaking the foundation of this tight-knit academic hub.
Mark Kirkpatrick, Loyalist’s president and CEO, pinned the overhaul on a dire financial squeeze, driven by dwindling provincial funding and a federal clampdown on international student visas. “We’re in the same boat as other colleges across Ontario,” he said. “The revenue just isn’t there anymore to keep all these programs afloat.” Decisions on which programs to axe hinged on enrolment dips, alignment with government priorities, post-grad work permit eligibility, and the steep costs of hands-on fields like carpentry, with its pricey equipment demands. “We had no choice but to cut deep,” Kirkpatrick added.
Tracy Mackenzie, a professor and faculty union president, voiced frustration over the lack of consultation. “Neither faculty nor our advisory committees got a say,” she said. “We weren’t even invited to brainstorm ways to save these programs until the ink was dry.” Mackenzie pointed to missed opportunities—like shifting two-year diplomas to one-year certificates or offering night and weekend classes to lure local students—that could have softened the blow. “We had ideas, but no one listened until it was too late,” she lamented.
Beyond the campus, the cuts threaten Belleville’s broader ecosystem. Mackenzie fears for colleagues facing layoffs and for the region’s youth, who may now trek to Toronto or Ottawa for education, potentially never returning. “Loyalist is our only post-secondary lifeline here,” she said. “Local employers rely on our grads to fuel the workforce. This isn’t just a college problem—it’s a community gut punch.”
Mustafa Alali, a third-year nursing student and president of Loyalist’s student government, offered a measured take via email. “We get it—these tough calls are about securing the college’s future amid financial strain from new international student rules,” he wrote. Still, the scale of the rollback underscores the precarious balancing act Loyalist faces.
The news lands as Ontario’s rural colleges grapple with similar fates—Algonquin College, for instance, just axed 41 programs and shuttered its Perth campus. For Belleville, Loyalist’s retreat signals not just a loss of academic options, but a looming challenge to the region’s vitality.