Laurentian University sees 43.5% fewer Ontario high school applicants in 2022

Applications to Laurentian University from Ontario high school students were down 43.5 per cent this year, compared to the same period in 2021.

The Ontario Universities' Application Centre reported the university received 2,791 applications from Ontario high school students in January 2022 to start their studies in the fall.

In January 2021, 4,942 high school students from Ontario applied to Laurentian.

North Bay's Nipissing University saw a small 0.2 per cent increase in Ontario high school applicants in January 2022, while Sault Ste. Marie's Algoma University had an 18.9 per cent increase in applicants.

In an email to CBC News, Laurentian President Robert Hach said the numbers were disappointing, but not surprising.

"The decrease in applications from high school students is disappointing but not unexpected, given the uncertainties of the restructuring process," the email said.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint - and with the recent show of support from the province in the future of Laurentian, we are optimistic we will see growing interest and applications over time."

Applicant numbers for new international, mature and out-of-province students will be available in April.

Insolvency in 2021

In February 2021 Laurentian announced it was insolvent and filed for creditor protection.

The university embarked in an ongoing restructuring plan under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).

As part of that process Laurentian cut more than 30 programs and terminated more than 100 faculty and staff positions in April 2021.

Eric Chappell, the president of Laurentian's Students' General Association, said the university's higher applicant numbers in January 2021 predated the announcement that it was insolvent.

But later in 2021, first-year student enrolment at Laurentian had dropped by 33 per cent, compared to the previous year. In September 2021, 1,024 new students enrolled at Laurentian, compared to 1,531 in 2020.

Chappell said he believes a higher percentage of students who applied to Laurentian this year will end up enrolling in the fall.

"People who are applying kind of know what they are getting into," he said.

Chappell added he has confidence Laurentian's ongoing restructuring will lead to a better institution in the future.

Tom Fenske, president of the Laurentian University Staff Union, said the university's shuttered programs contributed to the drop in new Ontario high school applicants.

But Fenske added the staff and faculty members still at the university have remained committed to their students.

"The majority of staff faculty have chosen to get through this together," he said. "And the students as well, we still put the students first."

Fenske has called for Laurentian's president, Hach, to step down, and said new leadership would help start a new chapter for the university, and give prospective students and their parents more confidence in Laurentian.

"I have kids and when they go to university, what I will need to see is an institution that cares about those students, an institution that has vision, direction and, you know, an institution where the people believe in their leadership," he said.