NBCC program cancellations disrupt plans of international students

At their home in a South American country, a married couple had just finished sending out invitation cards to friends and family.

It was their going away party, and New Brunswick was their destination.

The couple had upended their lives as they prepared to move to a new continent for the husband's education at New Brunswick Community College in Moncton. 

But that evening, the husband received an email. The couple's plans had all fallen apart.

NBCC was announcing the cancellation of his program, which had been scheduled to start on Jan. 8. The college offered him a choice: take a full refund, or defer his program to fall 2024 or winter 2025. 

A decision was required by Dec. 1, just 11 days after the college announced the cancellations.

"They expect us to 'reconstruct' our life again at our home country to wait another nine months?" the man said in an email to CBC News. 

CBC News has agreed not to reveal the man's name or other identifying details to protect him from repercussions.

NBCC had told him he was accepted, registered him in a program, gave him the paperwork he needed to get a student visa, then cancelled the program.

He and his wife had quit their jobs, sold their house, car and furniture. They also put a $2,000 security deposit on an apartment in Moncton and spent another $2,000 for their non-refundable flight tickets.

The short notice, the man said, "leaves less than three weeks between the notice and the date of departure. We were literally just finishing packing our stuff to sit and wait for our flight."

Charray Owen, a spokesperson for NBCC, refused several interview requests from CBC News to speak with the president, Mary Butler, and instead referred to the original news release announcing the closures.

The release, put out on Nov. 20, said that NBCC had made the "difficult decision" to cancel eight programs starting in January. The release cited a need to reduce enrolment and said trades and health care were not among the cancelled programs.

But NBCC still hasn't said publicly which programs were cut or how many students were affected. Owen did not answer these questions when asked directly.