KPU board of governors pass draft audited financial statements, approve engineering physics diploma and brewing certificate

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s board of governors (BOG) approved the draft audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31 during a meeting on May 28.

In her presentation to the board, Carole Laplante, interim director of financial services reporting and budgeting, said the actual year-end results versus the planned 2024-25 budget show a revenue shortfall of $11.5 million. The university’s expenses were $24.9 million less than the budgeted amount.

“International tuition revenues have been declining due to the international enrolments that are driving the decrease in tuition and fees,” Laplante said. “We saw approximately a 20-per-cent decline in student heads over the last fiscal year, resulting in international tuition and fees being $27.2 million lower than our budget.”

In expenses, KPU had an annual savings of $8 million in salaries and benefits when compared to the budget.

“We had an annual savings of $10.5 million due to short-term and long-term vacancies, contracted faculty not being required, and the associated benefits in all those employee groups.”

Severance was $6.7 million more than what was budgeted, which is “related to employee retirements and the planned faculty reductions,” Laplante said.

“The surplus that KPU achieved in fiscal 2025 was $13.4 million before the transfers to the [KPU] Foundation and deferred revenue,” she added.

“However, this surplus will not continue into fiscal 2026 due to the further decline in international tuition fees, vacant positions now being filled, and other net inflation.”

Vice-President Administration Peter Smailes provided an update on the fiscal year 2026 budget, where he reminded the BOG that the budget included a $3-million drop in non-salary, discretionary spending and a $5-million reduction in positions and overtime for BC General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and administrative employees.

“These reductions are required to meet this year’s budget,” Smailes said.

“That said, recent enrolment data indicates our summer enrolments are lower than the original projections, which will result in projected $1.9-million less in student fees for this year …. We’ve identified about $2.8 million in budget savings for this year, and those funds will not be distributed out to departments across the university.”

The board approved a proposed diploma in engineering physics program, which goes into effect on Sept. 1.

KPU already has a limited-intake, cohort-based certificate in engineering program, where students can transfer after their first year to second-year engineering at schools like the University of British Columbia or Simon Fraser University, KPU physics instructor Michael Poon said.

“What has happened in the past is that students who don’t get in with this limited-enrolment intake may choose to go somewhere else because they don’t see a landing spot for them here at KPU,” Poon said.

“So this program helps to solve that. It will be an open intake, so anyone can basically identify that they’re interested in engineering and be welcome into the university setting. It is geared as a pathway.”

Poon added this diploma program can hopefully attract international students, as it will be one of the targeted allowable fields of study for them and can be applied to work-study permits.

The board also approved a proposed certificate in brewing program, effective Sept. 1.

“We have a two-year diploma program in brewing and brewery operations, and what we’re proposing is if people take the first year of our program, they could get a certificate in brewing,” KPU brewing chair Dominic Bernard said. 

“So what we’re trying to do is provide options for students. We hear sometimes that two years is a big commitment, so we want to offer something that is a bit less of a commitment.”

The board also approved a revised version of the president and vice-chancellor position description.

Vice-President Human Resources Laurie Clancy said the description was due to be updated and KPU went through a university-wide consultation on this in advance of posting for the new president.

She added there were not any significant adjustments that changed the responsibility of the president, but there were a lot of minor changes to the description.

“There were a number of tweaks and a number of … additions to make the job description more current, add in some of the EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) language, and things like that [which] maybe wasn’t in there originally.”

The BOG also appointed board members Amanda Smith-Weston and Kim McGill as representatives on the chancellor search advisory committee.

KPU President Alan Davis said the process for appointing a new person to this position starts well ahead of October 2026, which is when Chancellor Kim (Kwuntiltunaat) Baird’s term ends.

Vice-President Equity and Inclusive Communities Asma Sayed said the board will receive a short survey as part of KPU being a signatory to the 50 – 30 Challenge, a Canadian government initiative that aims to advance EDI and representation.

Sayed also said KPU, along with all other post-secondary institutions in B.C., received a letter from Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills Anne Kang asking about policies the schools have in place to address hate, racism, and discrimination. She added KPU’s letter to Kang has highlighted its years-long initiatives to address these points, such as anti-racism training and a draft anti-racism policy. 

The next BOG meeting is on June 25 at 4:00 pm online via Microsoft Teams. For more information, visit www.kpu.ca/governors.