A massive proposed class-action lawsuit has just been launched against the Ontario educational institution, Fanshawe College.

On Wednesday morning, litigators at Toronto-based law firm Eric K. Gillespie Professional Corporation announced that the college, which has several campuses in Ontario, and its Board of Directors were being sued for $10,000,000.

The class action was launched in the Superior Court of Justice, and seeks damages on behalf of hundreds of students (including past, present, and international students) enrolled in the Paralegal Program at Fanshawe College since 2020.

It alleges "widespread negligence, extensive negligent misrepresentations and breaches of Ontario's Consumer Protection Act."

"It appears the College has repeatedly failed to meet the requirements of the Law Society Ontario ('LSO'), leaving students unprepared for licensing examinations and legal practice," a release states.

"The claim details, amongst issues, numerous failures to report major changes to the Program, make annual declarations, follow academic and field placement requirements, meet minimum instructional hours, meet faculty qualification requirements and failing to teach, properly or at all, the more than 300 required competencies."

"Even after an audit in 2018 by the LSO identified many of these inadequacies, the College and its Board failed to address them," it continues.

One of the proposed representative plaintiffs is Isabel Koestner.

"As students, we were told the instructors were properly qualified. We were told they held Master's certifications. It has turned out these were 'online courses' of a few weeks. We were told they had experience. It has turned out, for example, they had only recently graduated themselves, and their main experience was teaching yoga," she said.

Koestner also added that the class was told more than 75 per cent of graduates worked within six months.

Tony Trus, another proposed representative plaintiff, said that through the use of AI, it appears the real number "has been as low as 4 per cent."

"This is a national issue that governments and the public have been raising for some time," said the proposed class counsel, Eric Gillespie.

"Given how vulnerable they are, the claim also raises particular concerns regarding the treatment of international students by Fanshawe College. Our clients believe it is time to address it. Fanshawe College unfortunately appears to be a prime example of students not being treated fairly," he concluded.

The next step for the claim is movement toward certification.

"We do not comment on any ongoing legal proceedings or issues," a spokesperson for Fanshawe College told us. "We are very proud of our track record of high-quality education and student experience for students across the globe."

Anyone with questions about the lawsuit can contact Koestner, Trus or Gillespie at egillespie@gillespielaw.ca.

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