Enrolment numbers have been steadily dropping in the journalism program — and not only for Langara
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When the 20-or-so students in the Langara College journalism program cross the stage to receive their diplomas in spring 2027, it will likely be for the last time.
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The program, which has been offered for more than 50 years, is suspending enrolment. The current group of students will continue through to graduation, but, after that, there’s no plans for the program to return.
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“They can still sort of have it theoretically there, but they won’t offer it. Practically, they’re not going to bring it back — not in this environment,” said department chair Barry Link. “It’s sad. It’s a sad moment for everyone who’s been involved with it. It’s a program that we’re immensely proud of.”
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A Langara spokesperson said the suspension of enrolment in the program was part of the regular academic planning processes, and no final decisions have been made.
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The post-secondary education sector has been rocked in B.C. by the 2024 government policy to cap international student admission, causing mass layoffs in institutions across Canada.
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Langara has already cut at least 230 faculty, according to its student newspaper The Voice. The one-year journalism certificate program was furloughed last year as well, leaving only the two-year diploma offering.
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There were seven instructors in the program this past year, which will drop to three for the duration, along with one or two part-time teachers.
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But Link said the impact of the plummeting admission numbers, while “catastrophic,” were only a secondary factor in the program’s entry into cold storage.
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As an industry, journalism has been enduring a long and painful metamorphosis.
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“Journalism schools across the country have seen dropping enrolment and Langara is not alone in that,” he said. “The changes in the industry are part of it, and then the changes in what students want and what they want to do.
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“More and more of them will want to be things like YouTube influencers or podcasters, because that’s where they get their information from. It’s entirely online, social media, Tik Tok and so forth. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Technology changes, but the industry has never caught up to that, has never figured out how to make money from that and still do journalism.
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“Very few of (our students) come in now and think, ‘I want to be a newspaper reporter,’ or, ‘I want to be a reporter for a TV station.’ That’s not what they came up with, and that’s not how they imagine doing their work.
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“Now, with some irony, a few of our graduates in recent years have become just that … and they’re liking it.”
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The University of Regina suspended admissions into its journalism program in late 2022, then paused completely in 2023, before restarting a slimmer, stripped-down version in 2024.
