Former students sue Ontario company for $108K in tuition for unapproved web developer program

Ruoxiang Xiong borrowed $10,000 from his mom for a web developer training program run by a Markham, Ont., company that was supposed to include an internship.

That was the main selling point for Xiong, who was hoping the internship organized by Mark2Win would help him secure a job in the industry.

"They made up very fantastic stories about how the students before they found them, they were upset and after that they found a job, and they live a better life," he said.

But in reality, Xiong says he learned more teaching himself with YouTube videos than he did from the two-month virtual course in 2022. And he and other former students told CBC Toronto the promised internship turned out to be a group project with other students.

Mark2Win is run by Jinwei (Mark) Xu. In an emailed statement, Xu described his program as "cutting edge" and said the model of internship was specified in the company's service agreements.

"He didn't really care about our development," Xiong said. "It's not worth it at all for $10,000."

Program unapproved

Xiong is one of 10 former students who are suing Xu and his company for a collective $108,000 in tuition they paid towhat turned out to be a business providing unapproved vocational programs. The lawsuits have yet to be tested in court.

Ontario's superintendent of career colleges ordered Xu and his company which it said also operates under the names ITLabPro and MetaDataPlus to stop advertising and offering unapproved vocational programs in early July.

But by the end of the month, Xu had not complied with the restraining order and the province began issuing daily fines to the company, according to a government notice.

More than two months later, the business still hasn't complied, according to the career college compliance and enforcement website.

As of Monday, Xu's company was still being fined $2,000 a day on top of the $40,000 penalty the superintendent of career colleges ordered on July 29.

Xu is also personally being fined $2,000 daily since July 29, which means Xu and his company are likely facing about $198,000 in combined fines as of Monday.

Owner claims he stopped advertising, offering program

Xu told CBC Toronto he believes his program is exempt from the Ontario Career Colleges Act and so the regulations don't apply to it.

He said he "immediately addressed" the government action in July and asked the government to stop accumulating penalties as he applied for a review, but Xu said the superintendent of career colleges refused.

"In order to mitigate my loss and increase the peace of mind, I paid total $2,000 so far," said Xu in his statement.

"I also explained that my company and I had stopped providing or advertising any unapproved vocational programs even before they made such decisions in July."

In its July 29financial penalty notices against Xu and his company, the superintendent of career colleges said "a review was not requested." On Aug.23, the website for ITLabPro was still advertising the training program, although the page has since been taken down. ITLabPro also posted a video advertising the program on YouTube on Aug.19.

Despite the superintendent of career colleges' order for Xu to stop offering or advertising unapproved programs at ITLabPro, MetaDataPlus and Mark2Win, Xu denied involvement with two of those company names.

In his statement he said he has "no idea on ITLabPro's operation" and that MetaDataPlus used his name and image as an instructor on their website without his knowledge or consent.

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities refused to provide details on Xu's case beyond confirming its website is up-to-date to "to ensure privacy and integrity of the process."

Nearly $3M in fines issued in 15 years

In a statement, a spokesperson said generally, businesses can face further enforcement actions if non-compliance continues. Those could include more (and steeper) fines, judicial restraining orders and provincial charges, according to the statement.

In the last 15 years, the superintendent of career colleges has issued $2,975,000 in fines against about 180 unregistered career colleges, according to open data on enforcement from the province.

Xiong tried to get a refund from Xu in June when he found out the company wasn't registered to provide the training course he'd taken. But the company refused and told Xiong to sue them if he wanted to try toget the money back, according to emails reviewed by CBC Toronto.

So he did.

And about six months earlier, so did ChengjinWu.

Like Xiong, she says she was drawn to the program based on the promise of an internship, along with an advertised 92 per cent of students getting job placements and instructors who were experts in their field.

"What we got didn't match what they advertised," said Wu.

"We lost money lots of money and also we lost time. And now we're still in a lawsuit, so it's more time, energy and anxieties."

Wu reported the company to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities in January after she said the company refused to issue her a receipt for her $10,848.00 tuition. She filed her small claims lawsuit for the tuition the same month.

"I want to get my money back," Wu said. "Also I don't want other people to experience the same thing as me. I hope my action can stop his illegal activities providing the unapproved programs."

Xu says a lotof clients found jobs after program

In his statement, Xu said a lotof his company's clients successfully found related jobs after completing his program, and the 92 per cent employment rate was based on statistics from before the pandemic impacted the economy.

"Four to five of the 10 plaintiffs did not finish the whole program but attributed their failure in job hunting to our services," said Xu in his statement.

"Their purpose was mainly to get some refunds to somewhat alleviate financial difficulties."

Xu also said his company did not provide tuition receipts because it would mislead students.

"Receipts for consultation are consistent with the fact that we have never held out as a college or a school," said Xu's statement.

Given the province has deemed Xu's training an unapproved vocational program, both Xiong and Wu are hoping for further government action.

"I just want the government to shut this company down," said Xiong.

To do that, Wu thinks there needs to be harsher penalties.

"From one class he can make $140,000," said Wu. "There's not enough enforcement for him, because he can get a penalty but it doesn't prevent him from doing this."