TORONTO — The Ford government has paused all Ontario Student Assistance Program payments tied to private post-secondary institutions after a third-party audit raised what Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn called “serious concerns” about the integrity of applications in the sector.The warning did not start with the audit. Quinn said the ministry began receiving a rising number of complaints in late 2024 about the volume of Ontario Student Assistance Program applications at private career colleges. On January 15, 2025, Career Colleges Ontario raised the same concern about specific institutions. The association operates independently of government and processes financial aid for its members.Ottawa passed the ministry information on certain private career colleges in May 2025. Inspections started that July. In December 2025 the ministry brought in the government’s Forensic Investigation Team. In May 2026 it issued notices of non-renewal to six campuses and has since suspended their OSAP eligibility.In August, the government hired KPMG “to assess the broader integrity of OSAP applications at private postsecondary institutions.” That work is not finished. Quinn said the preliminary findings were enough to notify Auditor General Shelley Spence last week, refer the file to the Ontario Provincial Police, and stop the payments while the audit continues..Quinn listed the concerns in his own words: “common ownership, the involvement of immigration services firms, inadequate student validation and verification of course enrolment and outcomes, and unusually high concentrations of OSAP applications submitted from the same geographic locations.” He said many of the concerns identified so far have been concentrated in online-only programs.The money at issue is not small. The Canadian Press, using freedom-of-information figures, reported that career-college students received nearly $1 billion in OSAP grants in 2024-25. Seven schools accounted for $385 million of that — the same amount that went to students at all of Ontario’s publicly funded colleges. Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the province spent $465 million more on OSAP grants. Of that increase, 95% went to private career-college students.Quinn said private institutions will have to meet stricter criteria before they can regain OSAP eligibility. He said the government intends to introduce legislation to exclude predominantly online programs at private career colleges from OSAP, building on a change that already removed OSAP grant eligibility for all career colleges. Students already enrolled are the open question. Quinn said the province is working on low-interest third-party loans for students at private institutions and is in talks with financial institutions.
