MUN cuts 107 jobs in latest move to reduce spending, address shortfalls

MUN cuts 107 jobs in latest move to reduce spending, address shortfalls

University says no further, major reductions in staff planned this fiscal year

MUN axes dozens of jobs, saving $12.7M per year

Memorial University of Newfoundland has brought the axe down on 107 positions, in what university leadership is describing as a necessary step in the ongoing effort to make the university financially viable long-term.

"The last year, the last years, have been difficult but necessary," MUN president Janet Morrison told CBC News.

In an earlier statement, Morrison had said the latest losses are hard, because they involve people who have contributed meaningfully to the university. However, she isn't backing away from saying the changes were required.

"I would argue that for too long Memorial has been living on the edge in a state of financial precarity, with lots of insecurity and unpredictability and that's not good for anybody," she said in an interview at the St. John's campus on Friday.

The headline number of 107 positions reaches across leadership, managerial staff and faculty. It includes unionized positions, according to information issued by MUN.

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There are 51 jobs covered by retirements — 47 of those taking part in a voluntary retirement program. The call for voluntary retirements raised concerns earlier this year.

The headline total includes 37 positions that stood vacant, though it's unclear how long the posts were unfilled. Another 19 people, not yet eligible for retirement or not opting for retirement, have been let go.

"The university does not anticipate interruptions to students because of these changes," reads the MUN statement.

Morrison noted, deans have been asked to step in where they're seeing long waitlists emerge, to add courses where there's demand. A pot of funding is set aside this fall to support this addition of contractual teaching where needed, as departments sort out the workforce changes.

Looking ahead to winter and spring, university management has said no further university-wide cuts are planned for this fiscal year. There is no promise extending into next year.

Additional "localized" job losses may also still happen, in the normal course of operations.

The cut isn't the first announced this year. A change in executive structure was announced in January, including a move from seven to three vice-president positions. The changes came into effect in the spring.

The executive changes were estimated to be able to save $1 million a year, while the latest cuts are estimated to save $12.7 million.

The university has also committed to divesting real estate deemed not essential to its core mission.

MUN announced plans in January to sell the Harlow Campus in the United Kingdom, plus the Signal Hill Campus, Johnson Geo Centre and the Ingstad Building in St. John's. There has been no public update on those sales.

Morrison has said the changes are necessary to address the university's sustainability and outlook, with fewer people in Newfoundland and Labrador attending the university, rising operating costs, federal changes to immigration policy and, generally, a changing operating environment for post-secondary education across Canada.

Rather than take issue with the level of provincial government support, Morrison thanked the current government for being at the table.

"We're having regular conversations. I've found them to be incredibly constructive and supportive," she said.

MUN's enrollment numbers are actually up slightly for this fall over last, but total enrollment is forecast to decline. MUN leadership says it could see as much as a 12 per cent drop by 2030.

The ongoing changes come after an already difficult year through 2025-26, when the university's board of regents approved an operating budget requiring a $20.85 million cut in base spending.

Through the year, $18.6 million in operating cost reductions were made with actions including staff cuts, the closure of the university's Office of Public Engagement, the Leslie Harris Centre for Regional Policy and Development, elimination of various support funds and cuts in travel funding.

With some one-time savings, the university ended the year with a $2.7 million operating surplus, which is not the same as a total budget surplus.

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