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ontario regulation 353/23
made under the
Private Career Colleges Act, 2005
Made: November 23, 2023
Filed: November 29, 2023
Published on e-Laws: November 29, 2023
Published in The Ontario Gazette: December 16, 2023
Amending O. Reg. 415/06
(GENERAL)
1. (1) Paragraph 8 of subsection 3 (1) of Ontario Regulation 415/06 is amended by striking out “Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities” and substituting “Minister”.
(2) Subsection 3 (6) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(6) If a career college fails to apply for renewal of its registration within the time period referred to in subsection (5) but applies within eight months after the end of the college’s fiscal year, the college shall pay, in addition to the renewal fee payable under subsection (7), a penalty in an amount that is 50 per cent of the renewal fee unless the Superintendent is satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to apply in time.
(6.1) If a career college fails to apply for renewal of its registration within eight months after the end of the college’s fiscal year, the college’s registration shall expire.
(3) Subsection 3 (8) of the Regulation is revoked.
2. Paragraph 5 of subsection 9 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Private Career Colleges Act, 2005” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005”.
3. Paragraph 1 of subsection 10 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
1. A description of the admission requirements for the program, including minimum educational requirements, any of the career college’s policies and procedures for granting advanced standing and the particulars of any qualifying test required to be taken by a prospective student.
4. Subsection 11 (3) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(3) The evaluation shall be conducted at the expense of the career college.
5. (1) Subsection 12 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
Condition of approval and duration
(1) It is a condition of an approval of a vocational program that the career college give each student enrolled in the program a written evaluation of the student’s progress, as follows:
1. If the program is scheduled to be up to 12 months in duration, the evaluation shall be given before half of the scheduled hours of instruction for the program have taken place.
2. If the program is scheduled to be more than 12 months in duration, an evaluation respecting the student’s progress in the initial 12-month period, and in each subsequent period, shall be given before half of the scheduled hours of instruction for that period have taken place.
(2) Subsection 12 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “lesser” and substituting “other”.
6. (1) Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of subsection 16 (1) of the Regulation are amended by,
(a) striking out “Private Career Colleges Act, 2005” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005”; and
(b) striking out “Loi de 2005 sur les collèges privés d’enseignement professionnel” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “Loi de 2005 sur les collèges d’enseignement professionnel de l’Ontario”.
(2) Subsection 16 (2) of the Regulation is revoked.
7. (1) Subsection 17 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting the following:
Advertising records
(1) A career college shall maintain a physical or electronic copy of the following material related to each advertisement for a period of one year after the date of the last publication or broadcast of the advertisement:
. . . . .
(2) Paragraph 4 of subsection 17 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
4. If the advertisement contains a testimonial, endorsement or representation of opinion, a record of the testimonial, endorsement or representation of opinion signed by the person who made it or a record that the person granted the college permission to use it in the advertisement.
(3) Subsection 17 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(2) Subject to subsection (3), if a career college maintains physical copies of any material referred to in subsection (1), a physical copy shall be maintained at each campus of the career college in Ontario.
(4) Subsection 17 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “the material” in the portion before clause (a) and substituting “a physical copy”.
8. Paragraph 3 of subsection 18 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subsection 16 (1)” and substituting “section 16”.
9. (1) Subsection 20 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding the following paragraph:
1.1 The legal name of the career college.
(2) Paragraph 8 of subsection 20 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Private Career Colleges Act, 2005” and substituting “Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005”.
(3) Paragraph 14 of subsection 20 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
14. The schedule of hours of instruction and the method of program delivery for all scheduled hours of instruction.
(4) Subsection 20 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(2) For the purposes of subsection 50 (3) of the Act, the following wording, or its French equivalent in the French version of this Regulation, is prescribed for a student’s consent:
Career colleges must be registered under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005, which is administered by the Superintendent of Career Colleges. The Act protects students by requiring career colleges to follow specific rules on, for example, fee refunds, training completions if the college closes, qualifications of instructors, access to transcripts and advertising. It also requires colleges to publish and meet certain performance objectives that may be required by the Superintendent for their vocational programs. This information may be used by other students when they are deciding where to obtain their training. The consent set out below will help the Superintendent to ensure that current and future students receive the protection provided by the Act.
I, [insert student’s name], allow [insert legal name or legal and operating names of career college] to give my name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and other contact information to the Superintendent of Career Colleges for the purposes checked below:
□ To advise me of my rights under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005 including my rights to a refund of fees, access to transcripts and a formal student complaint procedure; and
□ To determine whether [insert legal name or legal and operating names of career college] has met the performance objectives required by the Superintendent for its vocational programs.
I understand that I can refuse to sign this consent form and that I can withdraw my consent at any time for future uses of my personal information by writing to [add contact information of college]. I understand that if I refuse or withdraw my consent the Superintendent may not be able to contact me to inform me of my rights under the Act.
10. Clause 21 (b) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “Private Career Colleges Act, 2005” and substituting “Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005”.
11. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:
Condition of contract re attendance
22.1 It is a condition of a contract between the student and the career college that the college may cancel the contract within the first 45 days of the start date for the vocational program specified in the contract if the student does not attend the program within the first 14 days.
12. Section 23 of the Regulation is amended by adding “physical or electronic” before “copy”.
13. Sections 24 to 30 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:
Fee refund policy
24. (1) The definitions set out in subsection (2) and the provisions set out in sections 25 to 33 are prescribed as provisions that a career college is required, by section 29 of the Act, to include in its fee refund policy.
(2) In sections 25 to 27,
“earned fees” means the amount of all fees paid for a vocational program that is proportional to the number of instruction hours that have taken place when a withdrawal or expulsion occurs; (“droits acquis”)
“program mid-point” means the point in the progress of a vocational program where half of the scheduled hours of instruction for the program have taken place; (“mi-parcours du programme”)
“service fee” means the lesser of 20 per cent of all vocational program fees and $500. (“frais de service”)
Full refunds
25. If a student has entered into a contract with a career college for a vocational program, the college shall give a refund of all fees paid for the program in the following circumstances:
1. The student rescinds (cancels) the contract in writing within two days of receiving a copy of it, in accordance with section 36 of the Act.
2. Before the student completes the program, the college discontinues the program or the college’s approval to provide the program is revoked by the Superintendent, but the college remains registered under the Act.
3. The college collects any fees before receiving a certificate of registration from the Superintendent.
4. The college collects any fees before the program was approved by the Superintendent.
5. The college collects any fees other than a service fee before the student has entered into a contract with the college.
6. The college expels the student in a manner or for reasons that are contrary to the college’s expulsion policy.
7. The college does not provide an evaluation, in writing, of the student’s progress as required under section 12.
8. The student voids the contract under subsection 18 (2) due to a statement, image or video made by the college that is prohibited under subsection 18 (1).
9. The student voids the contract under section 22 because it is missing a term required under section 20.
10. The student receives instruction from an instructor who is not qualified under section 41 for more than 10 per cent of the program’s duration.
Full refunds minus service fee
26. A career college shall give a refund of all fees paid for a vocational program, except the service fee, in the following circumstances:
1. The student gives written notice to the college, before the program start date specified in the student’s contract with the college, that the student is withdrawing from the program.
2. The student is admitted to the program on the condition that the student meet specified admission requirements before the program start date specified in the student’s contract with the college, and the student does not meet the requirements before that day.
3. The student does not attend the program within the first 14 days of the program after the program start date specified in the student’s contract with the college and is given written notice that the contract is cancelled from the college within the first 45 days of the program.
4. The college is notified by or on behalf of an international student before the program mid-point that the international student has not been issued a temporary resident visa as a member of the student class under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
Partial refunds
27. (1) A career college shall give a student a refund of the fees paid for a vocational program in accordance with this section if,
(a) the student withdraws from the program after the program start date specified in the student’s contract with the college; or
(b) the student is expelled from the program for a reason permitted under the college’s expulsion policy.
(2) If a student’s program is scheduled to be up to 12 months in duration, the career college shall give a refund for the program as follows:
1. If the withdrawal or expulsion occurs before the program mid-point, the college shall give a refund equal to the amount of all fees paid, less the service fee and any earned fees.
2. If the withdrawal or expulsion occurs after the program mid-point, no refund is required for the program.
(3) If a student’s program is scheduled to be more than 12 months in duration, the career college shall give a refund for the initial 12-month period of the program and any subsequent period as follows:
1. If the withdrawal or expulsion occurs before half of the scheduled hours of instruction have taken place for the period, the college shall give a refund equal to the amount of all fees paid for the period, less the service fee and any earned fees.
2. If the withdrawal or expulsion occurs after half of the scheduled hours of instruction have taken place for the period, no refund is required for that period.
3. If a period has not yet started at the time of the withdrawal or expulsion, the college shall give a refund of all fees paid for that period.
Refund of compulsory fees
28. (1) A career college may only charge or collect compulsory fees in relation to a vocational program after the fees have been published by the Superintendent under subsection 43 (2).
(2) If a career college collects a compulsory fee that has not been published by the Superintendent under subsection 43 (2), the college shall give a refund of the fee to the student on written request from the student.
No retention of refund
29. A career college shall not retain any refund of fees payable to a student under sections 25 to 28 in order to recover or set-off an amount a student owes the college for any service or program other than a vocational program offered by the college.
Timing of refunds
30. A refund payable by the career college must be issued to students within 30 days after the day a student,
(a) delivers a written notice to withdraw from the program to the college;
(b) is given a written notice of expulsion by the college; or
(c) delivers a written request for a refund to the college under subsection 28 (2).
14. Section 31 of the Regulation is amended by striking out “25 to 29” in the portion before clause (a) and substituting “25 to 28”.
15. Section 32 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
Notice of withdrawal for international students
32. A notice to a career college that is provided by or on behalf of an international student or of a prospective international student and that states that the student has not been issued a temporary resident visa as a member of the student class under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) is deemed to be written notice to the college that a student is rescinding (cancelling) the contract under section 36 of the Act or withdrawing from the program.
16. (1) Paragraphs 1 and 2 of subsection 34 (1) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:
1. Every current and former student’s transcript shall be kept in physical or electronic form.
2. A physical or electronic copy of every current student’s transcript shall be kept in accordance with subsection 30 (1) of the Act at the campus of the career college the student is attending or at a facility approved by the Superintendent that is located at a place that is physically separate from the college and that is owned and operated by a person that is not affiliated with the college.
2.1 A physical or electronic copy of every former student’s transcript shall be kept at a facility referred to in paragraph 2 and shall be sent to the facility within 60 days of the completion of the vocational program by the student or of the student’s withdrawal or expulsion, as the case may be.
(2) Subparagraph 5 i of subsection 34 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “paragraph 1” at the end and substituting “paragraph 2”.
17. Clause 36 (1) (h) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(h) a requirement that, for every complaint, the college maintain either a physical record of the complaint at the campus where the complaint originated, or an electronic record, for a period of at least three years from the date of the decision relating to the complaint, which record shall include a copy of the complaint, of any submission filed with respect to the complaint and of the decision; and
18. Sections 39 and 40 of the Regulation are revoked.
19. Subsection 42 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:
(2) The career college shall keep a physical or electronic record of personal information provided under subsection (1).
(3) If a career college keeps a physical record, it shall be kept at the campus of the college at which the person is employed.
20. (1) Subsection 45 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding “physical or electronic” before “file” in the portion before paragraph 1.
(2) Paragraph 1 of subsection 45 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “sex”.
21. (1) Items 1.10 and 2.4 of Table 1 of the Regulation are amended by striking out “s. 16 (1)” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “s. 16”.
(2) Items 3.3 and 4.9 of Table 1 of the Regulation are revoked.
22. The Regulation is amended by,
(a) striking out “private career college” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “career college”;
(b) striking out “private career college’s” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “career college’s”; and
(c) striking out “private career colleges” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “career colleges” except in subsection 5 (3).
Commencement
23. This Regulation comes into force on the later of the day section 1 of Schedule 29 to the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023 comes into force and the day this Regulation is filed.