 Helfand joined Quest University Canada in British Columbia, Canada, as a Visiting Tutor in 2007.In July 2011, Helfand took a long-term leave of absence from Columbia and assumed the presidency of Quest University.This private university embodies many of his views, by having "no faculty ranks, no tenure and no departments", and he claims that this approach by Quest University "fosters academic freedom, minimizes bureaucracy, and places the university's focus on teaching and scholarship."