Don’t target all students for possible OSAP misuse at a few schools, association says

1:53 High school students hold walkout over OSAP cuts

Career Colleges Ontario is urging the provincial government to reinstate student financial aid for career college students who were already approved for funds and are actively attending in-person classes.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn announced Tuesday that the government has paused Ontario Student Assistance Program payments for all career college students while an audit probes what he calls possible criminal activity at some schools.

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He also says the government will introduce legislation to make online-only programs at private career colleges ineligible for OSAP.

Premier Doug Ford’s government first temporarily made online-only programs eligible for OSAP during the COVID-19 pandemic, then later made it permanent, and Quinn now says a lot of the concerns centre on those programs.

Data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request shows that not long after those programs became eligible, OSAP usage at a small number of schools skyrocketed, to the point that just seven career colleges had the same amount of OSAP as all publicly funded colleges.

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Career Colleges Ontario, which had been warning the government about possible misuse of OSAP since 2023, says the government should be taking targeted action to address those concerns, not disrupting the education of students who have followed the rules.