TORONTO — Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said Thursday the province will table legislation next week that would make private career colleges liable for their students’ Ontario Student Assistance Program loans, part of a broader crackdown after a probe uncovered alleged fraud.
The measures, to be introduced Nov. 16 in a legislative package, would also cap OSAP-funded enrolment growth at private career colleges, end OSAP eligibility for predominantly online programs, require schools to maintain a physical campus, restrict relationships with immigration and recruitment firms, and create new fines under the Ontario Career Colleges Act.
The changes would give the province greater power to claw back money it says was misused.
“What we have found here are not minor administrative concerns, but coordinated, sophisticated efforts to take advantage of students and taxpayers for personal gain,” Quinn said at a news conference.
He listed allegations of third parties completing students’ coursework — including entire courses finished in a single day — final exams completed in as little as six minutes, thousands of OSAP applications submitted from the same IP addresses, and students who could not name their school, program or courses.
“One dollar that’s been defrauded on the Ontario government is one dollar too many,” he said. “We’re going to go after every dollar that’s been used for wrongdoing.”
The announcement comes while a KPMG audit of the private postsecondary sector remains underway and after the government referred preliminary findings to the Ontario Provincial Police and notified the auditor general.
Quinn said the government is working to restore funding to legitimate schools and students as quickly as possible, while insisting it will not resume payments until stronger controls are in place. He told students and institutions “who have become victims to the bad actors” that he hears their frustration and that the province will hold wrongdoers accountable.
The legislative package lands on the same day postsecondary students walked out of class to protest earlier OSAP cuts that reduced the maximum grant portion from 85% to 25% for most students. Premier Doug Ford recently described student protesters as “naive” and likened them to “sheep.”