TORONTO — Opposition members spent much of Thursday’s Question Period pressing Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn over the province’s pause on Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to private career colleges.The exchanges focused on the volume of provincial grants that flowed to a small number of private schools and the government’s decision to freeze payments system-wide while a third-party review continues. Quinn and Progressive Conservative members maintained the pause protects taxpayer dollars from alleged fraud and that no further funds will be released until stronger validation is in place.Provincial OSAP grants to career colleges nearly doubled in a single year and approached $1 billion, driven largely by a handful of institutions. Seven career colleges received roughly $385 million in grants in 2024-25 — matching the total that went to students at all publicly funded colleges combined. Career Colleges Ontario raised concerns about suspicious patterns in 2023; the ministry later cut several schools from eligibility and, after preliminary findings from a KPMG review, paused payments across private post-secondary institutions and referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police..Opposition members pointed to earlier Auditor General findings and questioned why clearer action did not come sooner, citing hardship for students who say they are not implicated in any wrongdoing. Government responses repeated that the file involves serious criminal allegations of misuse, that more than 3,200 tips have been examined since 2020, and that complex inspections are required before any resumption.Quinn has said legislation is coming this session to add guardrails, including tighter rules on online-only programs.The OSAP file has overshadowed other issues in the short fall sitting. Opposition parties argue the extended summer recess and earlier grant reductions left students and taxpayers exposed. The government counters that the previous framework was unsustainable and that the current measures are necessary to restore integrity before further expenditure occurs.
