🎬 BC’s Post-Secondary Education in crisis

How we got here and how we get out

BC’s public post-secondary education system is in the worst funding crisis in its history.

After a more than 60% reduction in international study permits in the province, and amid decades of chronic provincial and federal underfunding and the marketization of the sector, campuses are facing increasing layoffs and cuts to programs and services.

Students, staff and faculty alike have been left in limbo, and colleges and teaching universities have been the hardest hit.

This is a critical moment to decide the future of BC’s public post-secondary education sector, and our research shows there is a feasible path forward to ensure BC’s public post-secondary system better serves the entire province.

In this online panel, experts on BC’s higher education sector and experts working on the frontlines will discuss:

The specific policy choices that engineered the system’s current failings.
The ongoing impacts of this crisis across campuses.
What we can learn from our own policy history and from other jurisdictions to take the public sector from where it is now to where it should be.

This webinar is complementary to BC Policy Solutions’ 2026 Rebuilding post-secondary education as public infrastructure in BC report by Véronique Sioufi (this panel’s moderator).

Go to the report

Panelists

Kumari Beck is a professor and co-director of the Centre for Research on International Education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She is past president of the Simon Fraser University Faculty Association. Her research interests span international education, internationalization of higher education, curriculum studies, equity studies in education, globalization and higher education, and coloniality and education.

Dale McCartney is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Justice and Global Stewardship at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia, and his research focuses on the history of international students and international student policy in Canada. Before his doctoral studies, he worked extensively as a labour educator and consultant on public labour history projects.

Lisa Ruth Brunner is a Research Associate at the Centre for Migration Studies and instructor at the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia, located on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) territory. She conducts interdisciplinary research on international migration and education. Lisa has been a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant in good standing since 2014. She has over a decade of professional experience as a university international student advisor and has completed multiple research and curriculum design projects with the newcomer settlement sector in Canada and the United States.

Pauline Greaves Aylward is an Instructor at the Langara School of Management and President of the Langara Faculty Association. She recently served as interim president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC. With over 30 years of experience in education, policy, and leadership, she holds a Ph.D. in education and has previously served on the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Frank Cosco is President of the Vancouver Community College Faculty Association (VCCFA). He is a long-standing union leader and advocate for post-secondary education workers in British Columbia.

Moderated by:

Véronique Sioufi is the Senior Racial Equity Researcher and Policy Analyst at BC Policy Solutions. She leads a community-driven research desk dedicated to applying an intersectional lens to socio-economic policy. This work is guided by advocates from community organizations, unions and academia. She comes to BC Policy Solutions after working at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – BC Office since 2023. View full bio here.