u/Subject-Landscape451

International 'students' were a larger concern than even temporary foreign workers...

Good news: International 'student' arrivals down substantially from the reduced federal targets.

https://web.archive.org/web/20260910133538/https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/conestoga-uncovers-string-of-fake-course-certificates/article_ca979c13-c179-5a9a-a321-5e3639bd268b.html

A scam involving falsified CPR and first aid certificates has been uncovered. Conestoga College's associate director of work-integrated learning, stated in an email there was a “significant” number of falsified CPR and first aid certificates identified by the college.

Just remember this when you leave granny to be cared for by the new PSW. (PSW is an example of a program that is eligible for post graduate work permits from the college, so you can use your imagination as to why this is happening.)

Conestoga recently became notorious by bringing in 37,000 international students to Kitchener-Waterloo in 2023 alone and it was labelled a "puppy mill" by the federal immigration minister.

Edit: I was just thinking that this would be a good headline for The Beaverton.

Students and staff leaving the skilled trades campus are finding that with the poor design of the parking lot it can take over an hour to exit.

The college needs to stagger the class times or redesign the parking lot.

Yesterday's widespread hydro outage should be a good reminder that something much more serious and prolonged could happen, including in the dead of Winter.

I posted something about owning a hand crank radio and the response was that 99% of people wouldn't even know what that is and that the cell networks always work. Don't be naive people... we're one cyberattack or large solar flare away from everything being out for days.

The management of Conestoga has laid off 32 more full-time faculty today (Aug. 31). The effects on the students and programs are yet to be seen.

32 more full-time faculty were handed pink-slips today as the college continues its slow collapse.

(Hopefully no more 'last minute' program cancellations like last year when kids had moved to KW, paid rent, only to find out that their program was cancelled on orientation day.)

Here come the electricians!

Saskatchewan companies charging foreign workers to work in their establishment? Say it ain't so.

So the tickets to Canadian citizenship are:

1. Pay $40,000 to a strip-mall college, work full-time in a low-wage job, and earn a PGWP to work in a low-wage job.  Stay until you have PR.

Or...

2. Pay $40,000 to a restaurant for an LMIA job, make $38/hr and pay the boss back $20/hr in cash effectively making it a low wage job.  Stay until you have PR.

Since the PGWP have been drying up, go to option #2.

(Note: Some are even doing #1 AND followed by #2 after #1 doesn't work out.)

Ontario News

I suppose that when they show up to the office looking for handouts they will be easy to catch.

Conestoga's 25/26 Financial Statement

From 2025 to 2026 Conestoga College has become a financial disaster:

• Assets 2025 = $617 million; Assets 2026 = $329 million (down $288 mil)
• Revenues 2025 = $799 million; Revenues 2026 = $444 million (down $355 mil)
• Surplus 2025 = $122 million; Deficit 2026 = -$33 million (down $155 mil)

In September 2023, the former president John Tibbits proudly declared, "It won't be long, we'll be a $1-billion corporation," in a speech defending the college's international student growth strategy. He was presented with the Kitchener-Waterloo Citizen of the Year award the same year.

https://preview.redd.it/9g477a77uogh1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=f75b3943252f5fe451c6dc79c82a286473ed0ebc

In December 2024 Tibbits informed staff that the college was in "solid shape".

In 2025 they axed approximately 2,750 jobs. (This must be the largest, or one of the largest, job loss events in the region's history.)

In January 2026 he retired and it was later revealed that he was granted $3.8 million as a retirement bonus. This past May the college was taken over by the province due to "serious financial mismanagement".

(Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.)

The college needs to immediately divest itself from Tibbits' vanity projects such as the new corporate offices on King Street, the 'research lab' in Galt, and the recent real estate acquisitions. Then, seriously thin the ranks of the bloated executive management team (e.g., 40 Directors!).

It will take a generation to rebuild the trust in the community for this once respected institution.

Applyboard has launched a new 'Trust Centre' with the goal of lowering the rate of student visa rejections. Apparently the majority of these rejections were due to financial documentation irregularities.