Conestoga College president John Tibbits told MPs Thursday his school didn’t make money off the 40,000-plus foreign students it brought to Kitchener, Ont., before Ottawa capped study permits. Blacklock's Reporter says Members of Parliament weren’t buying it.“There was no money to be made,” said Tibbits, who earns $640,000 a year. “We didn’t try to make money. We were just trying to fill shortages. That’s all we’re doing.”Immigration department figures show Conestoga admitted 40,565 foreign students in 2023 — more than any other campus in the country. The University of Toronto was next at 31,380, followed by Seneca College at 23,530, University of Canada West at 22,375, UBC at 20,415 and Centennial College at 20,370.Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill) called the numbers “incredible,” noting Conestoga’s operating surplus exploded from $3 million in 2015 to $252 million in 2024. .She pressed Tibbits on whether Ottawa had ever tied permit approvals to housing capacity. “No,” he said. Asked if the college could have “juiced” those numbers if such a rule existed, Tibbits replied, “We were encouraged to grow.”MP Brad Redekopp (Saskatoon West) pointed out that foreign students now make up 75% of Conestoga’s enrollment. He asked whether the federal government had ever raised concerns about the rapid growth. “No,” said Tibbits. “They wanted us to grow dramatically because they couldn’t fill positions.”.When Redekopp asked whether the college was driven by revenue, Tibbits insisted, “It was not the money.” He also defended his pay. “That’s the salary I am being paid and I take the job very seriously,” he said.Tibbits claimed that 86% of international graduates found jobs within six months. But MP Costa Menegakis (Aurora–Oak Ridges) challenged the picture, pointing out that youth unemployment in the Kitchener–Waterloo–Cambridge region sits at 16.7%.“I would argue that’s not something to brag about, especially when you’re bringing in international students at astronomical numbers that pad the bottom line,” said Menegakis. “Conestoga by your own financial statements raked in millions from international students knowing there wasn’t enough housing, knowing some of those students were visiting food banks.”
