Particulars of Notice of Contravention and Review Decision
S. 49 (1) Private Career Colleges Act, 2005 ("Act")
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
Office of the Superintendent
Private Career Colleges Branch
77 Wellesley Street West
Box 977
Toronto ON M7A 1N3
November 28, 2014
These particulars are posted following the issuance of an administrative penalty for which a review was requested. Penalties may be reviewed upon request within 15 days of receipt of a Notice of Contravention. The review decision is made considering not only the information originally available at the time the Notice of Contravention was issued, but also any new information not previously available that may have been supplied in support of the request for a review. On review, an administrative penalty may be upheld, rescinded or reduced. A review decision is final.
Original service date: November 15, 2013
The Harris Institute for the Arts Inc.
Operating as Harris Institute for the Arts
118 Sherbourne Street
Toronto, ON M5A 2R2
| Description | Original Amount | Review Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Section 23 (6) of the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005 Changes to vocational program |
$750 | Subsection 23 (6) of the Act provides that “a private career college shall not make a substantial change to a vocational program that it has been approved to provide without the further approval of the Superintendent”. As set out under subsection 13 (1) of Ontario Regulation 415/06 made under the Act, the following changes, among others, are “substantial changes” for the purpose of subsection 23(6) of the Act: “a change in the duration of the program,” “the introduction or deletion of a practicum,” and “a change in the requirements for successful completion of the program and for promotion within the program.” Between November 21, 2012 and June 8, 2013, Designates of the Superintendent reviewed the Harris Institute’s two approved vocational programs – the Arts Management Program (AMP) and the Arts Production Program (APP) – and determined that the Signal Processing course had been eliminated from the AMP curriculum, and that the practicum has been rendered optional in both the AMP and APP curricula. These changes modified both programs’ durations, involved the deletion of a practicum and modified the requirements for successful completion of the programs. Therefore, they constitute substantial changes to the AMP and APP as set out in subsection 13 (1) of Ontario Regulation 415/06. The balance of evidence indicates that the Harris Institute did not obtain the Superintendent’s approval before making these substantial changes to the AMP and APP; thus it was concluded that Harris Institute contravened subsection 23 (6) of the Act. Harris Institute has been a registered private career college for over twenty years and has regularly corresponded with Designates of the Superintendent around the requirement to apply for program re-approval prior to making substantial program changes. As such, evidence indicates that the Harris Institute was aware of the requirement to obtain the Superintendent’s approval prior to implementing substantial changes to its vocational programs. As the balance of the evidence indicates that the Harris Institute contravened subsection 23(6) of the Act, the penalty included in the Notice of Contravention #2012-125 is upheld. However, as the balance of evidence indicates that the contravention does not meet the requirements set out in section 51 of Ontario Regulation 415/06 for the penalty to accrue daily, the penalty is modified to a onetime penalty of $750. Original penalty: $4,500 |
| Total: | Total penalties following review: $750 |