BREAKING: ILAC Education Group in Canada files for bankruptcy

The news came late on Friday September 18 via ILAC’s website, as the Canadian group – which had schools in Toronto and Vancouver – abruptly closed its business.

At least 1,000 international students are thought to be impacted – scrambling to work out what to do next. ILAC simply revealed it had filed for bankruptcy protection. Its immediate priority is to support its students and partners through the change, it stated, promising on a Friday night that “next steps will be communicated directly to those affected”.

“Information regarding current programs, student services and next steps will be communicated directly to those affected and will be updated on this website as information becomes available,” it said.

ILAC was one of the largest ELT operators in Canada, and it was invested in by PE firm ONCAP in 2019, as reported in The PIE.

It subsequently acquired Tamwood College in 2023 but announced a pivot in business operations in 2024 when new rules limiting student visas per operator came in in Canada.

In the same year, it also acquired digital recruitment platform, UniApplyNow.

The shock news comes just days after another major ELT closure, after EC English confirmed it was shutting all of its 25 schools, citing “challenging financial conditions and the failure to secure additional investment”.

Stakeholders have said the news marks “the end of an era”, but note a closure on this scale is likely to cause ripple effects with financial fallout and student confidence dented.

Commenting on the news on LinkedIn, chief executive of Expo Vente a Canadá, Stephen Wharton, said that the closure would not just affect one company but “a whole ecosystem”.

“My thoughts are with the people who made ILAC what it was, and with the students and agents who trusted it,” he said.

The founders of ILAC were Jon Kolber, Ilan Cohen and Bernardo Riveros. This article in Business Elite Canada explains the origin story, with a determined recruitment focus on Latin America.

It was widely considered to be one of the largest ELT operators, and it pivoted to move into PPPs, “public-private partnerships”, at the height of Canada’s international ed boom before new laws curtailed the PPP market from accessing PGWP (post-graduate work permit).

In late 2020, ILAC announced a partnership with Georgian College in Toronto. At the time, it was announced Georgian “will launch with three programs at ILAC’s boutique-style campus located in downtown Toronto”.

ILAC also announced a tie-up with Fanshawe College in 2021. “ILAC will begin offering Fanshawe programs starting in spring 2022,” detailed the announcement, alongside an ambition of Fanshawe to double its international student enrolments over five years.

The Canadian government moved to cap international student visas in 2024 and restrict any graduates of PPPs from accessing the labour market, with rules applicable from September of that year, causing a massive market contraction.