Tuition restitution

A student from outside of Canada, who was married to a Canadian citizen, chose to enter the country on an international student visa because it would be processed faster than her spousal visa. She enrolled at a college of applied arts and technology in fall 2013, and was enrolled during the fall and winter 2013 and winter 2014 terms. For each term, she was charged tuition based on international student rates, which were much higher than domestic student fees – about $7,000 per term. She didn’t realize that dependents of Canadian citizens, including spouses, are eligible to pay domestic fees.

Ombudsman staff asked that the college’s financial services department review the file. The college explained that the woman hadn’t declared she was married to a Canadian when she enrolled. Recognizing this, the college adjusted her fees to match domestic fees, and refunded her $11,151.60.

Read about how we helped other people in our Selected cases.