Students are disappointed and parents are upset in St. Albert, after the cancellation of a school trip already planned and paid for.

About 90 elementary school students from a number of St. Albert schools were supposed to depart on a week-long trip to Montreal and Ottawa in April, but their plans were unhitched last week.

“On Thursday, we were supposed to have a meeting about the trip, last Thursday, and it got cancelled. 

"The principal had called and said it’s looking like this might not be a go - we've been trying to keep in contact with them and the phones have been disconnected,” said Crystal MacDonald, a parent.

“I was looking forward to going on it, and it was going to be super fun, and then hearing I may not be able to go on it ... it’s a real bummer,” said Ethan MacDonald, Crystal's 11-year-old son.

The $2,500 trip, which has been in the works for about a year, included a 4-day stay at the Cosmodome Space Camp near Montreal.

The school district has been sending students there for years, but a few weeks ago, the company that typically organizes the trip disappeared.

“Suddenly emails weren't answered, we tried to make phone calls, they weren’t replied and finally late last week someone answered the phone and said they were, it was strange reply, there was nobody in the office and they were packing things up," said Barry Wowk, Superintendent of St. Albert Public Schools.

CTV News has learned the Nova Scotia based company, Experiential Education, is no longer in business.

The 71-year-old owner wouldn't speak on camera but told CTV News, over the past decade, her business has been struggling and personal health issues have taken a toll.

Gail Goodwin says she doesn’t have the money to pay everyone back but hopes to have a better handle on the situation after seeking financial advice on Wednesday.

Meantime, all parents in St. Albert can do is wait.

"Monetary is monetary," said Crystal MacDonald. "But to have to look at his face and see the disappointment, and to think how many other kids were going to have to face that as well, it's heartbreaking."

With files from Ashley Molnar