The Region of Waterloo is short millions in its operating budget, due in part to a significant drop in ridership on Grand River Transit.
This dip in ridership has led to a deficit $7.9 million in budgeted fare revenue, a number that regional staff say could grow to $11.1 million by the end of the year.
Councillor Michael Harris claims that Conestoga College is a significant contributor to the shortfall, adding that the college provided “bad information” during the transit planning process.
In 2023 and 2024, ridership on Grand River Transit rose dramatically compared to years prior, with more than 26 million riders in both of those years compared to just 17 million in 2022 and under 10 million in 2021.
While the latest statistics for ridership only account for the first half of this year, statistics from January to July show that ridership has fallen by more than 2.5 million riders, down to 13 million from 15.6 million by July 2024.
“Last year at council, we dramatically increased the budget around transit and ridership to support that growth, and now we see a dramatic fall in ridership, and that’s frankly due to the disorganization over at the college,” said Harris at an Administration and Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday.
The region is anticipating an operating budget shortfall of about $3.8 million, or 0.7 per cent of the property tax levy for regional services.
“This is significant, and the local taxpayers are going to bear the brunt of bad information and bad planning over there,” said Harris. “Disappointing to see that the majority of our shortfall will come in transit ridership.”
Enrolment at Conestoga College has dropped significantly in recent years, and the college has repeatedly pointed the finger at the federal cap on international study permits as the culprit for its difficulties. Conestoga President John Tibbits has recently stated that the school has lost 20,000 international students since 2023, resulting in a financial loss of approximately $450 million.
The troubles could intensify if the federal budget passes, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government plans to cut international study permits in half in 2026, down to 155,000 from more than 305,000 the year prior.
