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Everest College files for bankruptcy protection in Canada

Everest College files for bankruptcy protection in Canada

The U.S. parent company of Everest College, Corinthian Colleges, has announced Everest has filed for Canadian bankruptcy protection. This comes one day after the closure of 14 Everest campuses across Ontario.

On Thursday, the superintendent of private career colleges, the independent regulator governing academic institutions like Everest in Ontario, said it suspended the chain's licence to operate in Ontario as a private college.

In a statement to CBC News, the office said it "can propose to revoke a private career college's registration if [the superintendent is] no longer satisfied that it can be expected to be financially responsible in its operation as a private career college, considering its current financial position."

However, no other reason for the Everest shutdown was given.

Reza Moridi, the Ontario minister of training, colleges and universities, addressed the situation in a statement.

"Since the suspension occurred, the superintendent [of private career colleges] has been working diligently to put training completion plans into place for students," said Moridi. "While this is still a challenging situation for students, Everest’s bankruptcy does not change these ongoing efforts, nor does it change the superintendent’s ability to administer the $3 million for the benefit of Everest’s former students through the Training Completion Assurance Fund."

Moridi added that over the next few days, the superintendent and ministry staff will assess student access to training completion opportunities or tuition refunds, depending on what each student decides.

Corinthian Colleges said in a statement on the Everest website that at the time of the closings, the Canadian campuses had approximately 2,450 students and 450 employees.

"We are extremely disappointed that the ministry has taken these abrupt actions." said Corinthian chairman and CEO Jack Massimino in the statement. "Our Canadian subsidiary had been working with the ministry for an extended period of time with the goal of achieving a satisfactory outcome for students, employees and other stakeholders in Canada."

Corinthian said Duff & Phelps Canada Restructuring Inc. will be working as the trustee in bankruptcy for the case.

The company added the filing for bankruptcy protection in Canada will have no effect on its U.S. operations.