Hundreds of international students are now scrambling to figure out their future after the closure of Pacific Link College in Surrey, B.C.
In a Notice of Cancellation by B.C.’s private-college regulator, the Private Training Institutions Regulatory Unit (PTIRU), the college was stripped of its designation certificate last October and was ordered to immediately stop delivering its programs.
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Charukesh Kavya Chandrika Sivaprasad, an international student from Kerala, India, attended a virtual information session hosted by the PTIRU.
“The session was packed with students all trying to figure out their future. Everyone was advised to file for refunds”, he said to OMNI News.
The decision didn’t come out of nowhere. Pacific Link College has faced complaints from international students in the past.
“We’ve been dealing with problems at Pacific Link College since 2019,” said Balraj Kahlon, co-founder of One Voice Canada, a nonprofit that advocates for international students.
“After the OMNI story in May, even more students came forward.”
Documents reviewed by OMNI News show the same concerns students had been reporting to One Voice Canada for years. PTIRU cited the following violations:
Sivaprasad, who was nearing the end of his program, said he recently received a decision, verified by OMNI News, showing the college owes him roughly $18,000. Many classmates, he added, don’t know how to navigate the process without outside help.
Pacific Link College’s website is now down.
Sivaprasad told OMNI News they have received no guidance from the school. OMNI reached out to the college for comment, but has not heard back.
In a statement to OMNI News, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills said it initiated an inspection of Pacific College earlier this year.
Investigators uncovered “serious violations” of the Private Training Act, resulting in the cancellation of the college’s certification and an immediate halt to all career-training programs as of Oct. 8.
Kahlon acknowledged the regulator’s decision but said it came too late. “If they were paying attention earlier, a lot more students could have been protected.”
He added that PTIRU only acted after sustained follow-ups on multiple complaints.
For years, he has argued that many private-college diplomas “have no value in the labour market” and leave students with debt but no prospects.
“These programs shouldn’t exist in their current form,” he said.
He pointed to Ontario’s decision to block certain colleges from accepting new international students and said B.C. should do the same.
“You should only bring students here if the program actually leads somewhere.”
Kahlon estimates roughly 300 students are now looking for new schools after the closure of Pacific Link College. Some private colleges have stepped in to offer seats, but he warns many of those institutions also have troubling histories.
“When I saw the list, I recognized names of colleges we’ve fought cases against for Student refunds,” he said. “Even their hands aren’t clean.”
Kahlon stressed that community volunteers shouldn’t be the ones policing this sector. “This is the government’s job. They need to monitor these institutions properly.”
Despite a recent drop in new arrivals, many international students already in B.C. remain vulnerable to private-college abuses.
“These colleges shouldn’t be allowed to operate the way they do,” Kahlon said.
