TRU reports 27% drop in international enrollment as fall semester begins

Sep 29, 2026 | 4:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — Class is back in session at Thompson Rivers University as the fall semester has begun. With the impact of changes made to international enrollment still filtering through the university comes the promise to attract more local and domestic students to the institution.

International enrollment at TRU is down about 27 per cent year over year, with domestic enrollment up approximately 4 per cent.

“Across the Interior, we are seeing growth, but we have to think more broadly about our student base,” said Gordon Binsted, TRU’s provost and vice-president academic. “Maybe that means looking into the Lower Mainland or looking across the rest of the country. I don’t see international enrollment coming back anytime quickly.”

Binsted said the university is trending down toward 20 per cent for international enrollment. While that is tied directly to finances, the university says it’s been able to find more stable footing.

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“We are getting there. I want to give a fantastic callout to our finance folk. They have really thought their way through these challenges that the international student challenges brought,” added Binsted. “We are still waiting on student numbers. I’m not sure we’ve hit the bottom point on that quite yet as far as international students go. We are managing it. We are on solid ground.”

TRU is one of only a handful of institutions that offer in-class academia, online opening learning and trades programing, uniquely putting Thompson Rivers in an advantageous position.

“This is a really, really valuable piece. It gives extra value to the conventional bricks-and-mortar institution in terms of types of questions they ask,” said Binsted. “It gives value to the trades. [For example, a trades student] can look at a new way we are thinking about a circuit working, and then you can go work with the electrical engineer, and whomever, check it get it into the sector faster.”

by Michael Reeve

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TRU reports 27% drop in international enrollment as fall semester begins

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