Lethbridge Polytechnic has announced a second round of layoffs and program closures. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge Polytechnic announces more layoffs & program closures

Apr 8, 2025 | 12:55 PM

Just three months after announcing the closure of its English Language Centre, Lethbridge Polytechnic says it has had to make more cuts.

President and CEO Brad Donaldson says the post-secondary institution is facing a budget shortfall of around $8 million due to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reducing the number of international student visas that can be approved.

“Today, we announce that 53 permanent positions among all employee groups at Lethbridge Polytechnic have, or will be, terminated by June 30,” says Donaldson.

He says 27 of the layoffs were involuntary while the remaining 26 came in the form of voluntary early retirements, redundancies or modified hours.

“I want to offer my sincere thanks to our employees for their perseverance through this tough time. I feel fortunate to be part of this dedicated and caring community,” Donaldson adds. “I also want to thank the many employees who volunteered to end their time at Lethbridge Polytechnic – their selflessness led to a significant decrease in involuntary cuts across all employee groups.”

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Three academic programs and one diploma major stream are being eliminated at the Polytechnic:

• Commercial Greenhouse Technician certificate: this one-year program was created with a two-year grant that expires this spring, and no students are affected by this decision.
• Educational Assistant diploma: this is due to job seekers being able to find EA jobs without possessing this credential and the program’s ineligibility for PWGP’s. We will continue to offer the Educational Assistant certificate program.
• Agriculture Sciences diploma, Animal Sciences major (only).
  • The Agronomy and Agriculture Business majors will continue.
• Health Care Aid – Government of Alberta certificate: this is due to low domestic enrolment. This government training is available from a private provider in the community. This suspension creates space for new health-focused programs not available in southern Alberta.

The Aquaculture Centre of Excellence will also close.

This is in addition to the announcement from January that the English Language Centre would be closing as of June 30, 2025, affecting another 19 employees.

Donaldson says the impacted programs were chosen due to low enrollment.

“We need to make sure that the programs we offer have two things – one is the student demand – do students want to go into those careers? Secondly, from a hiring perspective, are there hiring opportunities in those careers? We’ve seen a shift in student demand and we can’t afford to run very low-filled programs.”

Donaldson assures that everyone who is already enrolled in the programs that are set to be eliminated will be able to finish their studies and graduate.

Once these students graduate, it is unclear how big of an impact it will make on overall enrollment, especially considering the reduction of international students.

Tuition is the biggest part of the Polytechnic’s revenues, so Donaldson says they are looking to create a few new programs that are expected to have higher levels of interest and demand. Some of those include dental assistants, power line technicians and advanced care paramedics.

There is still plenty of work to do before applications open up for the new programs. Donaldson thinks that early 2026 will be the earliest they could be offered.

Officials are also looking to increase domestic enrollment, seek out more grant funding for research, and explore other means of revenue generation.

READ MORE: Lethbridge Polytechnic closing English Language Centre, unclear if other programs impacted

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