Plaintiffs Successful In Class Action Against College For Misleading Advertising

On November 16, 2012, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided in favour of the plaintiffs in a class action against George Brown College (GBC) for misleading advertising (Ramdath et al v The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology, 2012 ONSC 6173). The Court held that GBC had made misleading representations in their course calendars to the effect that certain industry certifications could be received while completing an international business program. The decision was recently affirmed by the Ontario Court of Appeal. While damages have not yet been assessed, the case represents the possibility of class actions in cases of misleading advertising.

The impugned representations appeared in the course calendars for the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, and stated that the International Business Management program "provides students with the opportunity to complete three industry designations/certifications." However, GBC did not have any authority to