International Language Academy of Canada (ILAC) filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, September 18, 2026. It ceased operations “effective immediately” across its Toronto and Vancouver campuses, the company’s notice on ilac.com confirms.
The Toronto-based private English-language school had operated for more than 30 years. It ran programs across the ILAC Education Group portfolio including ILAC International College, the Miami-based UniApplyNow admissions platform, and Toronto-area pathway partnerships with Georgian College and Fanshawe.
All classes and programming ceased immediately as of the filing date. KPMG Inc. has been appointed as the Licensed Insolvency Trustee under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
What ILAC operated
ILAC’s Canadian footprint before the closure centered on its adult English-language programs in Toronto and Vancouver, a Young Adult program for ages 15–18, and ILAC International College, the group’s post-secondary career college arm.
The ILAC Education Group also housed student housing, university pathway partnerships, testing services, and, through the October 2024 acquisition of UniApplyNow, a US-focused admissions platform that lists more than 15,000 graduate and undergraduate programs across over 200 American colleges and universities.
UniApplyNow’s website describes itself as “an ILAC sister company.” The platform’s operating status post-bankruptcy was not addressed in ILAC’s September 18 notice and could not be independently verified at press time.
The regulatory backdrop
ILAC’s notice blames “significant regulatory changes affecting the sector” for the financial pressure that forced the closure.
John DeFranco, CEO of ILAC, expanded on the framing in a statement to City News Vancouver: “Limits on international students means fewer people can access the education and opportunities we were built to provide.”
The sector contraction is documented in the federal government’s own data. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recorded 28,200 new student arrivals between January and July 2026, 80% fewer than during the corresponding period in 2024.
Annual new student arrivals fell from 292,875 in 2024 to 114,975 in 2025., and are projected to drop further in 2026 under the government’s 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, which explicitly caps new international student arrivals to ease pressure on housing and services.
IRCC expects to issue up to 408,000 study permits in 2026, including 155,000 for newly arriving international students. This is well below the 2024 distribution.
Under the cap system, most affected study-permit applicants must submit a provincial or territorial attestation letter with their application, alongside the institution’s letter of acceptance.
What students face now
City News Vancouver spoke with affected students and a former teacher in the days after the closure. Thomas Bartalome, a former ILAC teacher, told City News the announcement came as a complete shock. “I was not expecting that at all as renovations were underway on the second and third floors” of the campus when staff received word.
Students said classes had been running normally the day before the closure notice, and that hiring had appeared to continue in the weeks leading up to the filing.
Several students said they had paid tuition for full programs in advance and had not received information on refunds or transfers. Some students interviewed by CityNews said the closure had also interrupted employment connected to their study programs.
ILAC’s notice says the school is “working closely with the relevant regulators to ensure students have the support they need” and that additional information from KPMG “will be communicated regarding this process soon.”
The notice does not address refund eligibility or transfer arrangements. ILAC was a member of Languages Canada, the national language-industry association that represents more than 200 private and public language programs.
Languages Canada had published detailed information about replacement placements, including that more than 430 of 1,362 affected in-person language students had already been placed at other member schools. It also explained that its completion plan covers replacement education and not tuition refunds or accommodation.
