Nearly 30 Canadian language programmes closed in Q1, marking the “sharpest decline in the sector’s history”

The peak body for Canada’s language training sector is sounding the alarm. Languages Canada reports that more than 13% of Canada's accredited English and French language education programmes closed in the first quarter of 2025 alone, marking the "sharpest decline in the sector's history."

That amounts to 29 programmes that have ceased trading – 18 private centres, and another 11 affiliated with public institutions – with roughly 350 jobs lost as a result. The wider economic impact is larger still, with an estimated 3,300 jobs indirectly affected.

"Canada's immigration system has become unpredictable and unwelcoming," said Gonzalo Peralta, executive director of Languages Canada. "Students and their families now see Canada as too risky, and institutions are finding that Official Languages programmes are no longer financially viable."

Languages Canada describes a "dramatic decline" in the sector over the last several years. Member-provided data reveals that between 2023 and 2024 alone, the number of students enrolled in language studies in Canada fell by -18% and student weeks by -21%.

As recently as 2019, Canada's language training providers accounted for CDN$6.7 billion in economic impact and supported 75,000 jobs. Only five years later, in 2024, that estimated impact was reduced to CDN$3.7 billion and 35,000 jobs.

A separate advisory from the peak body elaborates on those jobs figures: "Sector-wide, there has been a 44% decrease in teaching staff and a 35% decrease in support staff between 2019 and 2024 (includes full time, part time and seasonal positions, based on member-reported data). The cuts have been more acute in the public sector, which has seen a 60% decrease in teaching staff and 75% decrease in support staff, while those numbers are 32% and 13% for the private sector."

This decline represents, says the association, a "policy crisis of Canada's own making." The disruptive policy settings that have rolled out in Canada over the last 18 months have been well documented but, in 2024 alone, they amounted to 13 major changes to the country's immigration policies and processes for international students.

Those new policy settings were ostensibly made to ease pressures on housing availability and rising costs of living in Canada. Languages Canada notes, however, that, the country's language progammes "were not responsible for housing shortages (most students live with Canadian families during their studies) and did not displace Canadian workers (language students are not allowed to work). Nevertheless, they have borne the brunt of poorly targeted policies."

"The most recent policy change prevents Official Languages students from transitioning smoothly into post-secondary programmes, dismantling long-standing and effective pathways between Canadian institutions," adds the association. "This not only undermines decades of successful collaboration but also puts students and their families in precarious situations."

Drawing on research indicating that international students that complete language programmes before post-secondary studies in Canada have better outcomes, Mr Peralta says, "Language [learning is] national infrastructure. It drives academic success, workplace productivity, and social cohesion. My hope is that our newly elected government asks how Official Languages education can be a strategic advantage to the country, as infrastructure to reaffirm Canadian identity, support productivity in all sectors, and foster inclusive and socially cohesive communities."

For additional background, please see:

• "Measuring the impacts of the first full year of Canada’s foreign student enrolment cap"
• "Canada’s language sector buffeted by policy changes in 2024"
• "Canada’s new government strikes a more conservative note on immigration"