Down thousands in tuition, students hope private Quebec colleges will resume classes with new buyers

Down $30,000 in tuition and time ticking away on her student visa, Ravneet Kaur needs answers now.

Kaur is one of 2,000 students – most coming from India – who are left in the dark after three private colleges in Quebec filed for creditor protection in January and shut their doors.

The students have paid thousands of dollars to study with no diploma to show for it. Some, like Kaur, were close to graduating. They want to be able to return to class to finish their degrees.

“If I asked my college, if I email them or I tried to contact them, they don’t respond,” said Kaur. “I ask them to give me my completion of the first year.”

The private colleges – M College in LaSalle, CDE College in Sherbrooke and CCSQ, which has campuses in Longueuil and Sherbrooke – all recently requested protection.

BACKGROUND: Students demanding refunds as private Quebec colleges unexpectedly close

Kaur, who came to Canada from Punjab, India, two years ago, was a student at CCSQ. She had about 450 hours of schooling left before graduating.

She says she hopes she can continue school by mid-March since her student visa expires at the end of April. She can’t apply for an extension until the situation with the college is settled.

“Immigration gives us refusals by giving a solid reason that our colleges are currently not working, they are on suspension for all these reasons,” she said. “Students are stuck in this in-between dilemma. So it’s difficult for us.”

Kaur says many students aren’t working because their visa is in limbo.

“We don’t have enough money to pay our rent. We don’t have money to buy groceries and all this stuff. We are under a great depression as well because our time is going on and parents are worried too.”

At a Quebec Superior Court hearing Monday, the court-appointed monitor, Richter Advisory Group, confirmed they were in talks with potential buyers for the colleges.

“The goal would be to sell the colleges to a buyer who would agree to continue the classes for the students in Canada or those who are abroad and who would want to continue their studies,” said Alain Tardif, the lawyer representing students.

“Many of the students feel powerless because so many variables are out of their control. Many are in shock, they are embarrassed, some are depressed, suicidal, angry.”

#WATCH: “Students are stuck in this in-between dilemma,” says Ravneet Kaur, attending a Quebec private college that recently filed for creditor protection. The schools may reopen soon with a potential buyer but she says students are still in limbo.

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Kaur confirms the uncertainty and financial turmoil is ruining the lives of some families back in India.

“Some families have sold their land to pay the fee of a student in Canada,” she said.

Most students paid $15,000 in tuition to study at the colleges.

“For many students, the amounts invested represent their family’s entire savings,” said Tardif, who works at the law firm McCarthy Tétrault.

Tardif says a full refund of the tuition seems “unlikely, if not impossible.” However, he says his firm will ensure students receive as much as possible back.

“In the coming weeks, we will have more information regarding the fate of the students in Canada,” said Tardif.

Students demanding answers at protest after three private Quebec colleges closed down unexpectedly. (Credit: Ravneet Kaur / handout)

Meanwhile Kaur and others have been protesting around Montreal.

“We will keep doing it,” she said. “We want to make our voice to the government so that they support us. We just want our rights. We want justice.

“So all our motive is just to continue our studies.”