International student victim of northern Ont. college’s ‘overbooking’ policy

A student from India has been left in a desperate situation after his admission to a college in northern Ontario was revoked a few months before he was to arrive in Canada.

Savan Sabu was excited to come to Northern College in Timmins in January to study supply chain management, a two-year program.

"The reason why I choose this program is because I found this college quite affordable when compared to the rest of the colleges," Sabu said in an online interview from India.

“I felt this was the college to (choose), but I never expected it to be in this chaotic situation."

He was one of 211 international students – almost all from India – who had their acceptance to Northern College suddenly revoked for the January semester. That’s in addition to 500 admissions that were revoked in July for the September term.

“Your offer for this program has been revoked for the following reason: no seats available in the selected intake,” said the email he received from Northern on Sept. 29.

While housing is often cited as an issue for international students, Sabu had accommodations arranged. His problems were caused by a college policy similar to airlines that overbook flights on planes, expecting a certain number won’t show up.

But rather than having to spend a night in a hotel, Sabu’s life has been thrown into turmoil. He already secured a $30,000 student loan (at 11 per cent interest), arranged for his travel visa and paid his tuition.

He’s been offered a tuition refund or $1,000 if he waits until September. If he has to wait until next fall to begin his studies, he will start work almost a year later than he planned, costing him a year’s salary.

And in the meantime, he would have to start paying his student loan long before he even starts class.

"The college is asking me to compensate by wasting my one whole year and they are just giving me just $1,000, which is actually completely just a waste for me,” Sabu said.

"It's jeopardizing my life and my future and my career."

In a statement, Northern College apologized to students who have been affected and said it is working to change both the way it handles admissions and its capacity to accept more students.

“Improvement – for the better – often requires difficult decisions that can be perceived as callus or unfair to those affected,” the statement said.

'SINCEREST APOLOGIES'

“Northern College offers its sincerest apologies to those affected students and is working closely with them on a case-by-case basis to find solutions that fit their needs while ensuring they have access to the basic supports needed to succeed in pursuing their post-secondary education.”

Colleges and universities in northern Ontario are especially reliant on international students for revenue because they have a much smaller local population to draw from compared to the south.

Revenue from international students far exceeds funding from the province, which has frozen domestic tuition fees for the last five years. That makes them reliant on international student fees.

While education is a provincial matter in Canada, immigration is a federal jurisdiction and it’s the federal government that issues travel visas and study permits for international students.

Colleges and universities will sometimes approve more students than they have actual spaces, under the assumption that all the students who have been accepted won’t get study permits.

In an email to CTV News, Ontario’s Ministry of College and Universities said that Northern College, as an autonomous institution has sole authority over the admissions process.

“The ministry has been made aware of a situation involving the college rescinding a small percentage of their acceptances for their winter 2024 enrollment,” the statement said.

“Our office engaged with Northern to communicate our expectation that they work to find a solution that respects the best interests of students involved. We are aware that Northern has recently begun working closely with the affected students on a case-by-case basis to find solutions that fit their needs while ensuring they have access to the supports needed to succeed in pursuing their postsecondary education.”

Savan said he is shocked something like this could happen in a place like Canada.

"I always believed that Canadians were always good and they do it in the right way more than any other countries," he said.

Sen. Ratna Omidvar, who co-authored a report for the Canadian Senate on problems with the international student programs, said Canadians don’t realize how some young people in India idolize Canada.

She said the international student program is a $22 billion industry for Canada, but many students in India see it as a pathway to a new life.

“I was in India just this year and I cannot describe to you how much Canada features in the aspirations of young people in Punjab,” Omidvar said.

“I talked to so many people and they all said, I want to come to Canada. Can you help me come to Canada? Can you write me a letter of reference?”

INDIAN STUDENTS PREFER CANADA

Students could choose New Zealand, Australia or the U.S., but she said Canada is the land of their dreams.

“That should give us a huge amount of encouragement to set things right.”

When asked, other major colleges and universities in northern Ontario said they didn’t revoke any admission letters. But Northern College wasn’t the only institution in northern Ontario that ‘overbooked’ and ended up with more international students than it had room for.

When Laurentian University in Sudbury realized that 300 more international students than they expected were on the way, they made a different choice, however.

Dr. Brenda Brouwer, LU’s interim provost, said they managed to find ways to accommodate everyone.

“People did what needed to happen,” Brouwer said, in explaining how they managed.

“We were able to make the accommodations that were required (to) increase sessions or find larger classrooms to accommodate (everyone). All in all, it worked out.”

She said LU is trying to fine-tune its admissions process to eliminate large under- or over-estimations.

“Get our offers out earlier, giving students a longer timeline to secure those visas and more tightly monitoring at the program level, as well,” Brouwer said.

That way, if they have a larger contingent than expected coming, they can look to expand their capacity well ahead of students arriving on campus.

For his part, Savan is holding out hope that Northern College will relent and allow him to start his studies in January. A small ray of hope came over the weekend when the college offered him a new option: a spot at its affiliated college, Pures, located in Toronto.

Monday, Savan said it was “exciting news,” but he has questions about finding accommodations and whether he will have to pay and extra $2,000 in tuition.

“It's really hard for me to pay (additional) fees,” he said.