Conestoga College international students speak out over high fees

International students at Conestoga College are speaking out about rising tuition fees and joining others across the province calling on the Ontario government for some relief.

Ashish Bhatia, a recent graduate from Conestoga College says he paid more than $50,000 for a two-year undergraduate diploma.

“I was paying almost four to five times what my domestic friend was paying,” Bhatia said. “On average I was paying roughly $17,000 per year and that did not cover anything like living costs.”

Bhatia says the high price tag made it difficult to get by and forced him to borrow money.

“My budget was destroyed to be honest,” he said.

According to Statistics Canada, the average cost of one academic year for domestic students in Ontario is $8,000, more than half of that is covered by subsidies. International students pay roughly $15,000 per year.

“We do not qualify for any subsidy, and that’s understandable because we are not the taxpayer base,” Sana Banu, president of the Conestoga Students Inc. said.

“However, we do see that the gap between domestic and international is growing further.”

Banu says the biggest concern is the every-increasing tuition fees international students face.

“So for example, a domestic tuition can only be increased up to three per cent a year in Ontario, whereas an international tuition can increase up to 20 per cent a year.”

Students at Conestoga and five other colleges across Ontario have started a campaign named Need or Greed calling on the provincial government to freeze international tuition fees for the 2023/2024 school year and cap further increases at three per cent.

On Thursday, hundreds of international students plan to march in a protest at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

“We want to ensure no student in left behind,” Banu said.

The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities said in a statement it recognizes the importantance of international students but added postsecondary institutions have autonomy over matters involving international students.

CTV News reached out to Conestoga College but were told no one was available to comment.