Education

The international-student shortfall will worsen schools' financial woes. Donald Trump's assault on academia will hinder and help Canadian campuses. And school boards will scramble to fill teacher shortages.

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1 Police Officers Will Return to Schools

School resource officer programs, which stationed uniformed police in public schools, were largely phased out in the 2010s due to budget cuts and reports that police made kids feel unsafe. But violent incidents have been rising in schools nationwide, prompting calls to bring cops back to class. In Victoria, officers were barred from schools in 2023 but returned in 2025. Police have come back to Edmonton schools after four years away. And Ontario's Bill 33, if passed, will require boards to bring officers onto campuses. Some students and parents feel police make schools safer; others feel they create an atmosphere of surveillance and distrust.

2 Political Feuds Will Proliferate on Campus

Universities have long been hubs of activism. People demonstrated against the Vietnam War in the '60s, apartheid in the '80s and, most recently, Israel's military actions in Gaza. But in 2026, protests will target universities themselves. At Toronto Metropolitan University, law students filed a defamation suit against the school for saying an open letter supporting Palestine contained “sentiments of anti-Semitism.” Students at Ontario's Lakehead University have rallied against its involvement with RBC due to the bank's fossil-fuel investments. And this March, Nova Scotia universities will confront a province-wide student strike protesting high tuition, fossil-fuel investments and harms against Indigenous people.

3 International-Student Numbers Will Keep Plummeting...