A settlement services agency that served northwest Toronto’s immigrant community for 33 years has abruptly gone bankrupt and closed its doors, leaving 90 employees and hundreds of clients in the cold.

Community MicroSkills Development Centre shut down its five locations in February. Clients who showed up for their programs found the doors locked doors and a bankruptcy notice posted.

“My son called me from the Dixon Rd. office and said it was shut down. I could not believe it and had to walk over to look myself,” said Doreen Bartley, an immigrant from Jamaica, whose son attended the youth programs at MicroSkills and volunteered there.

“The staff there provided help with kids’ homework, tutored individuals struggling in school. They offered counselling, job and social programs. Kids with no computer and internet at home went there to do their homework. I am saddened not only for my child, but for the entire community.”

A statement from the organization’s board of directors said the agency had been plagued by several years of deficits and could not in good conscience promise to deliver on future contractual obligations with different levels of governments.

“MicroSkills’ board is saddened by this development and the potential negative impact this will have,” the statement said. “The board and senior staff worked all options to address financial challenges but in the end they were not able to find a workable solution that would be sustainable for the long term.”

Reached by phone, Seija Suutari, the agency’s CEO, said she could not comment on the financial situation the organization faced.

“The matter unfolding behind the scene is highly confidential and sensitive,” said Suutari, the third top executive MicroSkills had brought in after its long-standing executive director, the late Kay Blair, took a leave in 2014 to battle with sarcoma, a rare cancer.

“The decision to execute the voluntary bankruptcy option was not taken lightly. It was a very difficult decision to make. We simply had no choice.”

Debbie Douglas, of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, said no one in the sector or the funders saw MicroSkills’ closure coming because it happened so quickly.

Established in 1984 with four staff members in a tiny industrial office in Etobicoke, the not-for-profit organization pioneered innovative programs for women and youth in the area that were emulated by other immigrant service agencies, said Douglas.

“Our concern is there are very few services in northwest Toronto, an area with a high immigrant, racialized and poor working-class population,” she said.

“The agency had made connections with youth and women in the area. We hope that the funders will find other similar organizations to carry on their programs.”

MicroSkills received $2.5 million a year from the federal government for its language, employment and youth programs. In 2016, Ottawa also funded its programs for need assessments, orientation, service referral, computer training and summer camp for Syrian newcomers.

The agency also got a total of $6.9 million from the province over the last five years to provide job training, newcomer settlement and professional licensing assistance programs.

“The Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration had previously been alerted that MicroSkills was running a deficit, but we were not approached for financial assistance,” said ministry spokesperson Laura Sylvis.

“As recently as January 2017, the organization provided assurances and documentation to show that measures were in place to address its deficit situation.”

Jane Wilson, MicroSkills’ director of women’s and newcomers’ programs, said staff were blindsided by the board’s bankruptcy decision and many were left in precarious financial circumstances.

Over the years, the organization had helped countless newcomers integrate and delegations from around the world visited MicroSkills to learn about its programs and operations, Wilson said.

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“The legacy is due in large part to the legacy of Kay (Blair) and her skills in ensuring that staff were in place who could develop and grow these unique services,” she said.

“Under her leadership, the existence of the agency was not in question. Her strong belief in the need for this organization and commitment to expanding services for vulnerable populations saw it through many, seemingly insurmountable challenges over the years.”

According to the province, at least two community organizations have reached out and asked to explore the possibility of taking over some of the programs and services that had been delivered by MicroSkills in the neighbourhood.