Canada's largest language school ILAC shuts down, leaving 1,362 students without programs

Canada's largest private English-language school shut down Friday, leaving more than 1,300 students without classes and facing uncertainty about tuition, housing, and visas.

ILAC filed for bankruptcy protection effective immediately. The school operated in Toronto and Vancouver under the banner of Tamwood International College in Vancouver. A notice posted to the ILAC website Friday afternoon explained the closure; by Saturday morning, automated telephone recordings at both offices directed callers to the online notice.

The shutdown affected 1,362 on-site students. An unconfirmed number of virtual students are also impacted. ILAC offered short-term English-language courses, high school programs, and college programs lasting up to two years.

"ILAC no longer has the financial resources necessary to continue operating," the school stated in a statement attributing the closure to "significant regulatory changes affecting the sector."

Gonzalo Peralta, executive director of Languages Canada, the industry association, said in a statement Saturday: "The sudden and disorderly closure of Canada's largest language school is a shock to everyone. The sector is in crisis." The organization is working to transition affected students into alternate programs at no extra cost, with an emergency email expected to go out to all impacted students Sunday with instructions on next steps.

José Carlos Chavez, an incoming student from Guadalajara, Mexico, scheduled to start a two-year marketing program mid-October, found out about the closure from social media. "I'm just really confused and lost," Chavez said to CBC News on Saturday. He has paid the school almost $14,000 in tuition fees, has a flight to Vancouver booked for next week, and will face approximately $1,800 in penalties if he cancels his apartment lease now.

This closure comes five days after EC English, which operated in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, shut down. Languages Canada was able to find new academic homes for all affected students impacted by EC English's closures.

Beatriz Gil, who runs Truly Canadian Education connecting international students to Canadian schooling in Metro Vancouver, has dozens of clients enrolled in ILAC programs. She received a tearful call from an ILAC staff member on Friday. High school students in Vancouver were asked to take their belongings and leave the building Friday. "They were outside the school with all their belongings asking what's going on?" Gil said.