Thousands of Indian students, mostly Punjabis, stare at bleak future as 3 Canadian colleges shut abruptly

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, February 7

Over 2,000 students mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat are allegedly left in the lurch with three private colleges in Canada’s Montreal city closing abruptly.

Some of the students among them are learning online and some are on study visas.

Canada’s CBC News has reported that all three colleges have filed for creditor protection.

In the court filing, the colleges blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for some of their financial troubles. The three colleges first announced long winter vacations from November 30, 2021 to January 10, 2022. Then, just before closing, the authorities asked the students to deposit pending fees within one week. This amount of money ranged from Canadian $ 15,000 to 29,500, which come to between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 17.70 lakh.

Some of the students have paid the hefty fee, reports the Wire.

The three colleges are Collège de comptabilité et de secrétariat du Québec (CCSQ), College de I’Estrie (CDE) and M College.

CCSQ has two campuses at Longueuil and Sherbrooke and offered courses in accounting, secretarial studies, medical, computing and legal studies.

CDE offered six courses in business and administration and information technology. M College’ in LaSalle had four courses in business, health and technology.

The students are aged between 18 and 22 years. Some are also from Haryana and Gujarat and had been eagerly waiting for on campus learning to begin.

On January 29, 2022, left with no option, students under the banner of ‘Montreal Youth-Student Organization’ (MYSO) held a rally at Gurdwara Guru Nanak Darbar at LaSalle in Montreal demanding justice in their case. They also handed a letter in this regard to the Minister of Education of Canada, the Indian Ambassador to Canada, the Montreal MP and various ministers of the opposition.

At the rally, the students demanded visa refunds for those in India, refund of fees, opportunity to complete studies for students in the three closed colleges, graduation of students with the Certificat d’Acceptation du Québec, a mandatory document for students to study and work in Quebec province, study permits and travel without any hassle to students who have obtained study visas. They threatened to intensify protests if their demands were not addressed.

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