Despite significant revenue loss, the College of New Caledonia (CNC) headquartered in Prince George–Lheidli T’enneh announced a balanced projected budget on April 24, 2026 that required a number of sacrifices to achieve. The final tally won’t be settled until late July, but for now it’s assumed the workforce will be reduced by roughly 80 positions, many of which are faculty. Some grants have been secured by the college, but for now, not enough to stem the bleeding. CNC President, Cindy Heitman took questions from CFURadio regarding the budget on the 28th, just prior to its official release.
In typical years fully enrolled classes with low operating costs, such as Anthropology, turn a profit which can offset more expensive courses, like a Welding program. That scenario was functioning until a Federal cap on international students was introduced shortly after Heitman was appointed in late 2023. She stated, "Unfortunately with the decrease in international enrollment, that is where most of our international students attended, were in those types of classes, and we see extremely low, to if any, enrollment in many of those courses.”
The college hopes to increase revenue in a number of ways which includes focusing on domestic enrolment, its community & continuing education program, landing corporate clients with recurring training needs in their workforce, and fundraising. Unable to go into debt due to BC’s Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, Heitman explains, “We’re required by the government to have a balanced budget and so much of our budget really depends on our enrolment.” She continued though, “if our enrolment goes up, we’ll need to rehire people back.”
With an increasing amount of development being announced in our Provincial North and a demand for skilled workers expected to follow, Heitman mused, “I think right now, this region, and this community is about to experience a growth that I don’t think we’ve experienced in a very long time.”
As of 2025-2026 fiscal year end, the anticipated regional activity has not yet translated into increased revenue for the college.
- Ian Gregg, CFURadio 88.7FM, Due North News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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