George Brown Polytechnic’s jewellery program, ranked the seventh best in the world, has recently halted enrollment for the 2027-2028 admission cycle. The initial announcement came in March of 2025, which led to jewellery students staging protests to rally for the program.
This September, the school officially suspended new intakes for the jewellery program, while current students will not be able to move forward with their education after the 2025-2026 academic year concludes.
“It’s crazy that the program is closing after such a long history here,” says Haley Crespo, a second-year George Brown jewellery student. Crespo explained that the program accumulated a wealth of specialty equipment and provides “a lot of hands-on experience, which is definitely needed when it comes to jewellery.”
Crespo believes the cut is partially due to budget concerns stemming from the recent federal cap on international students, who were “a big part” of the program’s funding. “Obviously, it’s very sad,” Crespo says, as the community is entrenched in the prevalent Toronto jewellery industry that mostly “went to George Brown.”
First-year jewellery students Anneka Geddes, Henry Benner, and Lavinia Hoog learned about the cuts in September. “I heard that we were maybe going to get a second year,” says Benner, adding that they and their peers were all hoping for the option. Benner is instead entering an apprenticeship, which will take “a lot more learning” than if he remained in George Brown. Hoog and Geddes hoped to enter the jewellery industry post-graduation, but are now uncertain of where their paths will lead.
Sarah Dobranowski studied in the program before becoming a part-time jewellery professor at George Brown. She says that “we were hoping that because our program is so unique…that it wouldn’t come to us being cut,” adding that the program had many “benefits and influences” on her career. Knowing students will not get a “full breadth of education” about jewellery-making, Dobranowski says, is “very sad.”
Dobranowski also expresses her disappointment over the lack of communication between the faculty and the department. “If we knew what was costing so much to run the program, then maybe some changes could be made.”
George Brown Polytechnic is just the latest Canadian university to announce halts in programs related to arts and culture. York announced suspensions of 18 programs, namely English and Indigenous studies, in 2025 and was met with significant public backlash. Humber Polytechnic cancelled multiple theatre and performing arts programs in May of this year.
“People don’t really see…value in [art programs] as they do for other programs,” says Crespo, feeling that it is “short-sighted” amid the prevalence of AI and the responding desire for the human touch. “When you’re cutting all these programs… I don’t know what happens to us as a society.”
