Coast Mountain College will be closing its Hazelton campus next year and is undergoing a significant internal restructure to address a $4-million annual revenue shortfall they say was caused by a sharp decline in international student enrollments.
Heather Bastin, The College’s Executive Director of External Relations, explains that the drop in international enrollment was caused by changes made at the Federal level by the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
‘So while we would normally see about 200 new students coming to us from across the world, our programs are no longer of interest because they don’t necessarily lead to a post graduate work permit anymore, and so this fall, instead of 200 new students, we saw 16 new [international] students.’ – Heather Bastin, Coast Mountain College’s Executive Director of External Relations
Bastin says, although the College saw fewer international students enroll this time around, the number of domestic students had actually increased by about 13 percent. In light of this, the College now plans to redouble its effort to provide more of the ‘in-community’ training courses that have been in high demand in the Hazelton area.
‘It suits people better, I think. There’s less driving, there’s less expectation to leave their home communities and their families, and that seems to be the direction that works best for that region… and it’s reflected in the attendance of the campus offerings, which are quite low.’ – Heather Bastin, Coast Mountain College’s Executive Director of External Relations
Bastin confirmed that the Hazelton campus, first constructed in 1977 and in operation in its current form since 1999, was considered to have the lowest full-time enrollment rates of any campus in their network, and so it was chosen to close. However, it will remain open until the end of June 2026, so as to allow currently enrolled students to finish their coursework.
Bastin adds, it has been a devastating few weeks for staff and students alike at the college, as the restructure also comes with a commitment to reduce 20 percent of it’s workforce.
‘I think everyone is hurting right now. It’s a real blow, we’re a tightly knit community of coworkers… and we’re a small community generally across the region. I think when something hits someone hard, it hits us all hard.’ – Heather Bastin, Coast Mountain College’s Executive Director of External Relations
Included in the cuts are the positions of Dean of University Credit, IT Manager and the Director of Facilities, roles that will be taken over by the respective heads of each department. A new role has also been created, the Dean of Health, which will support the expansion of the college’s health-related programs.
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