Mohawk College has begun a round of layoffs, as the school faces a $50-million deficit for the 2025/2026 academic year.
In a memo from Mohawk President Paul Armstrong, staff and faculty at the school were told Monday that support staff layoffs would be announced on Jan. 21, 2025, between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Support staff were allowed to leave work at 3 p.m., ahead of the layoffs.
Before layoffs, the college had 479 support staff in its employ. Mohawk spokesperson Sean Coffey said the college cannot yet say how many of those staff members will lose their jobs.
“The next few weeks will be difficult for everyone, and especially for the impacted employees, their colleagues and teams,” Armstrong wrote.
All school services, outside of food services, closed at three for the layoffs. The school said those services will reopen on Wednesday.
Service staff will receive either a working or non-working notice, if they have been laid off. Staff that receive no notice have not lost their jobs. Non-working notices mean the person has been laid off and can attend a virtual meeting to learn about their next steps.
Staff that receive a working notice have still lost their jobs, but for a variety of reasons are expected to continue working for a period as the college transitions into a smaller staff. These employees are expected to return to work on Wednesday.
Mohawk College expects to lay off between 200 and 400 staff from all levels of the college, following a federal cap on the number of international students accepted to Canadian colleges and universities, along with restrictions on Post Graduate Work Permits.
Mohawk has shuttered a handful of programs at the school, including its accessible City School initiative, which brought a portable classroom around the city to encourage students without GEDs and post-secondary to seek education.
Armstrong wrote that faculty layoffs will be announced at a later date.
“We ask for everyone’s continued patience and understanding during this difficult time,” Armstrong wrote.
