Canada dreams shattered, angry students demand refund from immigration consultants

Angry scenes were witnessed as over 30 students, whose foreign dreams were shattered following the closure of three Canada colleges, met with officials of IDP International Education Provider, through whom they had applied for admission.

The meeting of the students and IDP Education officials was facilitated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Gurpreet Bassi Gogi at the Circuit House in Ludhiana on Monday.

Across the state, at least 500 students are facing an uncertain future as M College in Montreal, CDE College in Sherbrooke, and CCSQ College in Longueuil announced closure after Rising Phoenix International Inc, that runs the operations of the colleges, declared bankruptcy, citing pandemic losses.

Out of these, 140 students are those who had applied through IDP, with at least 80 of them stranded in the country since 2020 as their Visas were rejected following the development.

A few who had made it to the foreign shores remain uncertain about the course of their career.

Many students stated that their families had to sell off land or take loans at high interest rates so that they could pursue undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Canada. Following the closure of the colleges, neither have their got their money back nor do they have any word about the possibility of gaining admission in another institute in the country.

Gur Singh, 21, of Malerkotla, said, “My grandparents took a loan by offering our ancestral property as guarantee. I hoped to move to Canada for higher studies and subsequently apply for permanent residency and citizenship, and also take my aging grandparents abroad. But my future is now in jeopardy. My visa was rejected after the college where I applied shut down.”

He added that the validity of his IELTS scores, which is two years, and mandatory medical check-up status, has also expired. “I have to go through the whole process again if I have to pursue education in Canada,” said Gur Singh.

Another affected student, Sukhwinder Kaur of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) said, “My parents had borrowed ₹9 lakh from someone on interest. Two years have passed since, and I am still struggling to get a Visa. My father is a truck driver. He had taken this loan only with the hope of securing a bright future for me.”

Jasmeet Singh, IDP area manager who oversees Punjab operations, assured that students who applied for undergraduate courses will be inducted in a polytechnic college at Alberta, Canada, during September intake.

“If any student does not secure admission anywhere, we will refund the money,” he added.

Meanwhile, AAP’s Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi said a committee will be formed to keep post-dated cheques as a guarantee of refund for the affected students.

He urged all MLAs across the state to take similar steps and also asked other affected students to reach out to him through social media, or over phone, with their grievances.