At institut teccart, the promise of a better future has collided with a much harsher reality for some international students. In a Montreal classroom building on Hochelaga Street, that tension is felt not in abstract debate, but in unfinished studies, damaged finances, and the quiet panic of students who say they were left to manage the consequences alone.
What is driving concern around Institut Teccart?
The concern is not limited to one complaint or one student. A provincial investigation was opened at the request of Martine Biron, Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education, into governance issues and the climate inside the institution. The Ministry of Education has also confirmed that an inquiry is underway, while declining to discuss specific situations that were brought to its attention.
That scrutiny followed accounts from former employees, current students, a mother, and young people who studied there. They described gaps in teaching support, student services, and staff management. In their telling, students were moved from one program or even one campus to another without their knowledge, and administrative mistakes had serious consequences. For those caught inside the system, the issue is not simply institutional weakness; it is the way those weaknesses shape daily life.
How do students describe the experience?
One student, Ilyas Bounfit, came to Montreal hoping for a better future. Instead, he says errors in his school record had grave consequences for his immigration status. Sitting in a restaurant in the Quartier latin in March, he said, “I should never have chosen Teccart. ” His case was also corroborated with the testimony of Maude Huard, a former orthopedagogue at the institution, who said she was shocked by the way international students were treated.
Other voices paint a wider pattern. One former employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said some students accumulated failing grades without any warning signs being raised, while the institution continued collecting tuition until they were eventually forced to leave Canada. Huard said she had recommended that some students be suspended after repeated failures, including cases of five straight failing sessions, but did not see the direction act on those recommendations.
Another former specialist, Kathlyne Medrano, said she witnessed rapid weight loss, anemia, worsening infections, and signs of psychological distress among students who could not get the insurance they needed for treatment. She also spoke of many young people with suicidal thoughts. The testimony is striking not only for its intensity, but because it links academic failure to housing insecurity, food shortages, night work, and debts carried by families who believed they were financing an education.
Why does the financial pressure matter so much?
For some students, the school is tied directly to their right to stay in Canada. Former employees and students said many were not clearly told that repeated failures could jeopardize the renewal of their study permits. One older staff member said some students were working long hours while studying full time, and in some cases working without authorization, just to cover rent and food.
That pressure is visible in the numbers shared by the Ministry of Higher Education: institut teccart enrolled 312 international students in 2020-2021, then 1, 835 in 2024-2025. The current school year stands at a provisional 969. The college also holds a permit allowing it to offer 23 programs. In the middle of that expansion, the gap between expectation and reality appears to have widened for those who believed the institution would be their bridge to a stable life.
What response has been given so far?
The college refused an interview request and instead had a communications firm send a unsigned written response. It said the institution takes the administrative investigation seriously, is collaborating fully and in good faith, and has provided the requested documents while continuing to participate in the process with transparency and respect.
For Mohamed, an former student who returned to Morocco without a diploma, the damage is already done. He said he lost 45, 000 dollars in the experience and now regrets not applying to a recognized university. Another student, Amine, said he felt sold a dream and found himself facing practical barriers instead: he discovered on arrival that he was not enrolled, had paid 1, 200 dollars to a consultant in Morocco, and was left trying to survive with limited work hours while dropping weight quickly. In both cases, the same phrase returns in different forms: the promised future never matched the one they encountered at institut teccart.
And that is what makes the scene on Hochelaga Street linger. A campus can look ordinary from the outside. Inside, for students who came hoping for a new start, the question is whether the system meant to guide them can still be trusted to protect them.
