Canada’s Niagara College Settles Work Permit Class Action

Niagara College of Arts and Technology in Canada has reached a settlement with international students who claimed that the college falsely promised that they would be eligible for a three-year Post-Graduation Work Permit, but were really unable to do so because their coursework was completed online.

The school will be sending each affected student between $7,500 and $20,000 to compensate for injury allegedly caused by the misrepresentation.

The Star explains that several hundred students are anticipated to be part of the Class, further noting that around 4,100 of Niagara College’s total 11,000 student are international students.

According to the international students’ false advertising class action lawsuit, Niagara College told them that they would qualify for a three-year work permit after they graduated.

The students were reportedly told they would qualify after they completed most of their general education requirements online but completed one year of post-graduate schooling in Canada, as part of a diploma transfer program.

However, this was not the case, according to the students. The students claimed that they learned later that the three-year work permit did not apply to people who had completed distance learning.

Allegedly, the program considered the Niagara College students’ learning to be distance learning, though they had completed one year of post-graduate schooling in Canada. According to the students, this was in opposition to the claims made by their alma mater.

Class Members eligible for compensation from the Niagara College distance learning work permit class action lawsuit include students who fall into two groups.

The first group includes those international students who graduated from Niagara College’s general arts and science program between the dates of Sept. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2013, and who were denied a three-year post-graduation work permit because they had participated in distance learning but then reapplied and were granted the permit.

The second group includes the same students who reapplied and were again denied the three-year post-graduation work permit.

To receive benefits, eligible students must provide documentation including proof of the date of their graduation from Niagara College, and the rejection letter of their application for the work permit. Those who meet this requirement will immediately be included in the Niagara class action settlement. 

Those students who want to opt out must do so in writing no later than Jan. 16, 2020. A final hearing for the Niagara College work permit settlement hearing has been set for Feb. 6, 2020.

Attorneys for international students in the Niagara work permit class action lawsuit will be taking their cut from the settlement, to the tune of $1 million from the fund. In addition, the college will pay $250,000 to cover legal fees, taxes, and more, incurred in the Niagara College work permit false advertising class action lawsuit.

Did your alma mater misrepresent post-graduation benefits to you? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

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The Niagara College students are represented by Alan A. Farrer, Darcy R. Merkur, and Stephen Birman of Thomson Rogers.

The Niagara College Work Permit False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Anish Goyal, et al. v. Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology, Case No. cv-15-534310-00CP, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.

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