Canada’s largest private English-language school files for bankruptcy, leaving 1,300 students scrambling - Toronto Star

ILAC’s collapse comes less than a week after another major international chain, EC English, closed its global operations.

A notice on the closures was posted to ILAC’s Facebook page.

Canada’s largest private English-language school has abruptly shut down and filed for bankruptcy protection, blindsiding more than 1,300 international students and hundreds of employees who are out of work amid an escalating crisis in the ESL sector.

The International Language Academy of Canada (ILAC) filed for bankruptcy protection under KPMG on Friday, shuttering campuses in Toronto and Vancouver, B.C., where it operated under the banner of Tamwood International College.

“ILAC no longer has the financial resources necessary to continue operating,” read a statement posted to the school’s website, citing “significant regulatory changes affecting the sector.”

In a written statement shared with the Star by email, ILAC said it “recognizes this is difficult news and is working to minimize the impact on its students, employees, and partners wherever possible.”

By Saturday morning, automated telephone recordings at the school’s offices in Toronto and Vancouver directed callers to the online notice.

The sudden collapse leaves 1,362 on-site students — 802 in Toronto and 560 in Vancouver — scrambling for answers, along with an unconfirmed number of virtual students taking classes online, according to Languages Canada, the national association that accredits and represents language schools across the country, including ILAC.

“The sector is in crisis,” said Gonzalo Peralta, executive director of Languages Canada, noting its roster of members has plummeted from 220 to 148 in recent years. “This is not a unique occurrence in the last three years, but because it’s the largest, it certainly sends a very powerful message. It’s a message of warning.”

Languages Canada is working to transition affected students into alternate programs at no extra cost over the coming days and weeks. An emergency email is expected to go out to all impacted students on Sunday with instructions on next steps, Peralta said. Priority for placements, he added, will be given to those whose current class sessions end next week.

“Within the next two to three days, weeks maximum,” Peralta said, “all the students will be placed in alternate programs at no cost.”

Languages Canada’s members have already pledged to absorb 700 students into on-site programs in Ontario and British Columbia, Peralta added. The organization has scheduled an emergency meeting with its members at 4 p.m. on Saturday to discuss next steps.

“We had a promise we made to these students,” Peralta said. “We will find alternate programs for them, and we will do so very quickly.”

The shutdown reflects a rapid downturn for a sector built on steady streams of international recruitment.

According to Languages Canada’s 2025 Annual Survey Report, member institutions welcomed just 81,636 students recently — down nearly half from the 150,112 students enrolled in 2019. The organization attributes the drop to federal study permit caps introduced in January 2024 and unpredictable visa policies, which choked the pipeline of students entering Canadian colleges and universities through preparatory language pathway programs.

In 2019, the language-education sector directly and indirectly generated $6.75 billion in economic activity for Canada and supported 75,000 jobs, Languages Canada reported. Peralta says those revenue figures have now been cut in half.

ILAC’s collapse comes less than a week after another major international chain, EC English, closed its operations around the world, including three campuses in Canada.

Languages Canada told the Star it has found new academic homes for all 471 students impacted by EC English’s closures at its campuses in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. 

Staff at ILAC were given virtually no notice of the closure. One ILAC teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of harming future employment prospects, described receiving an email late Friday morning urging staff to attend an urgent virtual town hall call at 4:15 p.m.

During the brief meeting, ILAC chief executive officer John DeFranco read a prepared statement informing staff the school was closing immediately after failing to secure new investors.

“It was obvious from the get-go it was bad news,” the teacher said, adding that DeFranco appeared visibly moved  as his voice broke while reading the statement. 

Teachers, the source said, were told they would receive no further pay and were instructed to apply to the federal Wage Earner Protection Program.

Within an hour of the call ending, the source said, staff were locked out of their work email accounts.

“We’re all being dumped out into this not-very-good job market,” the teacher said. “It’s a scary situation to suddenly find yourself in.”

KPMG did not respond to the Star’s request for comment before deadline.

Students impacted by the school closures who have not yet heard from Languages Canada directly can contact the organization by email at student@languagescanada.ca.

The Advocate is a regular feature by Diana Zlomislic that helps Canadians hold companies and policymakers to account for the goods and services they provide. If you need help or want to share your story, email Diana at dzlo@thestar.ca