Toby Chu is the Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Global Education Communities Corp. (GEC Corp.), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Since founding the company in 1994, Mr. Chu has grown GEC Corp. into a global enterprise with 24 business locations across Canada and internationally.
In its early years, Mr. Chu launched the company’s expansion by establishing the CIBT School of Business & Technology Corp., which was rebranded as GEC Corp. in 2023. Today, GEC Corp. operates a network of campuses, teaching centres, joint program locations, and recruitment offices worldwide, offering business and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in Canada.
To further his vision of global education, Mr. Chu acquired Sprott Shaw College in 2007—one of Canada’s largest and oldest private career colleges, founded in 1903. Under his leadership, Sprott Shaw expanded to 16 campuses across British Columbia and became the academic backbone of GEC Corp.’s future growth. By 2020, the college had evolved into a diverse institution serving both domestic and international students. In 2025, GEC successfully divested the asset, realizing a substantial return on investment.
In 2010, Mr. Chu led the $4.3 million acquisition of King George International College (KGIC), one of Canada’s largest English language training schools. KGIC became a key component of GEC Corp.’s global recruitment and language education strategy. After a successful reorganization, Mr. Chu sold KGIC for $13.5 million. In 2017, he reacquired its assets for $3.1 million and rebranded it as SSLC Language College. In 2024, GEC Corp.’s education platform was serving over 10,000 students from more than 79 countries annually.
In 2014, Mr. Chu launched GEC Corp.’s student housing division, Global Education City (GEC), acquiring hotels, serviced apartments, and development properties to build North America’s first Education Super Center and Education Mega Center. Leveraging GEC Corp.’s robust student pipeline and partnerships with 79 schools across Metro Vancouver, the housing division experienced rapid growth. The real estate portfolio, including its development pipeline, expanded to $1.3 billion, encompassing 14 buildings in the region.
Mr. Chu has received numerous accolades throughout his career. In 1993, he was named one of Canada’s “Top 40 Business People Under 40.” The following year, he was selected as one of the top 30 finalists among 300 nominees for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2015, he received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs.
Under Mr. Chu’s management, GEC Corp. earned the following recognitions during the past twenty-nine years:
Paul Harman has over 10 years experience across the areas of financial reporting, operating and development real estate finance, internal audit and risk consulting.
He received his Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and Diploma of Language from the University of Adelaide before starting his career working in public practice accounting. Before his position with GEC Corp., he spent 6 years in Australia and Canada working with clients operating across a broad range of industries including; mining, viticulture, retail, manufacturing, financial institutions, investment funds and investment managers. He gradually narrowed his focus to financial institutions, private equity, and other illiquid investment asset classes including real estate, after developing an interest in their associated financial reporting complexities and operations.
Paul oversees all aspects of the group’s finances including financial reporting, debt and capital management, budgeting and tax compliance.
Emily Liu is an education professional with over 16 years of experience spanning K–12 and higher education in both the public and private sectors. She is skilled in student engagement, student recruitment, institutional partnership development, and project management. Before joining GEC Corp, Emily worked in the public sector, focusing on international student recruitment and corporate training projects. Passionate about connecting people to real-world opportunities through education, she is dedicated to empowering students and strengthening the global education community.
Chongmi Park is a dedicated marketing leader with nearly two decades of experience in the international education sector. She began her career in 2006 in the agency field, gaining expertise through key roles at Canadian College of English Language (“CCEL”) and Vancouver English Centre (“VEC”) before joining Vancouver International College (“VIC”) and Sprott Shaw Language College in 2016. As Vice President of SSLC Language College (“SSLC”) and SSLC Business College (“SSBC”), she drives brand growth, expands global recruitment channels, and supports enrollment for GECC education brands. Her work focuses on strategic marketing, fostering international partnerships, and delivering impactful outreach to both students and institutions worldwide.
Brendan Lee is a driven and well-qualified business development, corporate entrepreneurship and sales executive with broad experience in Post Secondary Education. Brendan has been with Global Education Communities Corp. for over 16 years of direct experience planning, leading and executing growth strategies and leading diverse sales teams.
His role at GEC is responsible for setting revenue targets and marketing goals. His duties include developing B2B, forecasting sales strategies and overseeing student, market and commercial leasing.
Mr. Paul Williams has significant experience in complex real estate. He has specialized in gaining development approvals for complicated development entitlements.
Mr. Williams has more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience and served as the Vice President of a premier Canadian real estate development company involved in dozens of high-rise developments. He was a former board member of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, where he oversaw their $100M expansion. Mr. Williams is currently an advisor to the City of Vancouver’s Advisory Committee on Green Building Strategy. He is past Chair of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Mr. Donald Yen Architect AIBC, is the Principal of Urban Solutions Architecture Ltd. (USAL), located in Vancouver, BC. Mr. Yen founded USAL in 1997 and has since focused the firm’s practice in the areas of; land-use planning & municipal approval processes, architectural & urban design, and in building & facility planning, all with the focus of delivering the technical design and construction quality standards expected on significant projects.
His firm, USAL, works with both private sector clients and public sector clients and has developed unique expertise with student-focused projects in urban settings. Donald is highly-skilled and experienced with complex municipal and community stakeholder approvals processes, and is experienced in balancing the user group needs, with the client’s perspectives, along with technical and budgetary considerations, while advancing the project forward in an expeditious professional manner.
Mr. Yen is fully experienced with codes, construction contracts, technical standards, material specifications, and best practices in construction and is well known in the industry. His professional experience is augmented by his former faculty and leadership roles at the BC Institute of Technology, where he led Programs in Sustainable Urban Development (SUD), Building Technology (ABET), and Architectural CAD & Graphics (ASCT). Mr. Yen also developed and taught courses such as Construction Contracts, Construction Management, BC Building Codes, and Construction Materials & Assembly, amongst others. On behalf of BCIT, Mr. Yen was responsible for establishing joint research in sustainable building technologies and graduate-level programs with UBC, SFU, and ECUAD. He was BCIT’s Campus-planning representative for the Great Northern Way Campus.
With his unique blend of experience and as a Principal Architect of Urban Solutions Architecture Ltd., Donald Yen Architect AIBC, has developed extensive “hands-on” experience in management and design. These unique experiences allow Mr. Yen and his firm to excel with particular proficiency at identifying mandates, critical evaluation/analysis of criteria, utilization of creative problem solving, management of resources/skills, and management/utilization of human resources, resulting in achieving the overall objectives, with timely & professional results.
Specifically, for GEC, Donald and his firm has developed an intimate understanding of the functional programming, spatial requirements, and overall requirements of the metrics required for GEC’s Projects, and has developed and applied them in creative applications with each unique GEC site and development project in the range of municipalities. USAL has been involved with all GEC Projects in either leadership roles, such as Architect/Prime Consultant, or in strategic advisory/support roles to communicate and articulate GEC’s needs; spatially, technically, and programmatically. Donald’s in-house USAL team consists of; Architectural (both design and technical), Landscape Architectural, and Interiors staff, where Donald and his team can focus and direct efforts on each GEC assignment.
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