Students left in lurch after Quebec private colleges, recruiting firm file for creditor protection

Three Quebec colleges and a connected recruiting firm have filed for creditor protection, adding to the uncertainty of hundreds of international students who had already been seeking tuition refunds.   

M College in Montreal, CDE College in Sherbrooke and CCSQ, which has campuses in Longueuil and Sherbrooke, requested protection in a filing in Quebec Superior Court last Friday. The recruiting firm, Rising Phoenix International, also filed for protection.

They are all owned by the Mastantuono family, including Caroline, Christina, Joseph and Giuseppe Mastantuono, under the umbrella name RPI Group. 

The request for creditor protection comes a little more than a year after the province suspended 10 private colleges, including M College and CDE college, for what it described as "questionable" recruitment practices for students in India.

The suspension meant the schools were temporarily prevented from accepting certain foreign student applications. Quebec's investigation into the 10 colleges revealed shortcomings around recruitment, commercial practices, governance and teaching conditions.

Although the suspension was lifted at the beginning of 2021, hundreds of students faced long delays in obtaining a student visa that would allow them to come to Canada.

Students pay between $28,000 and $30,000 to attend the colleges, usually over a two-year period, according to court documents. Students from India represent 95 per cent of the 1,177 students at the three colleges.

Last month, CBC News reported that dozens of students in India had been trying to get their tuition refunded for months without success after their student visas had been delayed. 

Several students told CBC their parents had saved for years so they could study abroad. Without a refund, some students said they are unable to apply to other colleges, effectively freezing their academic progress. Others had to take out loans or work part-time jobs.

WATCH | Family saved for years to send this student abroad:

According to the application for creditor protection, unpaid tuition fees and refund claims from 633 students against the RPI Group are estimated at nearly $6.4 million.

The document adds that there are "potential additional claims of approximately $5 million from pipeline students awaiting a decision on their student visa application."

In its application, RPI Group blamed its financial troubles on "a cascade of unfortunate events," including "the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, untimely and improperly financed expansions, changes to the immigration process for international students, as well as the litigation and public relations issues faced by the group."

RPI Group's decision to purchase CDE and CCSQ colleges in June 2020 for $10.9 million also left it vulnerable after subsequent visa delays led students to ask for refunds, the application said.