TORONTO — Three private career colleges have laid off staff and suspended classes after the Ford government froze Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to the entire private postsecondary sector.Anderson College has laid off just over 100 staff and paused classes for about 300 recently enrolled students, Computek College cut 25 of its roughly 120 employees, and The Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences has laid off 10 people. The moves come as the Ford government’s blanket freeze on Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to all private post-secondary institutions stretches into its second month. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn imposed the pause on Oct. 6 after a preliminary KPMG review flagged serious integrity concerns and the matter was referred to the Ontario Provincial Police..Owners of the three schools told The Globe and Mail they face large losses and may not last until the government’s stated timeline of early 2027. Laleh Bighash, president of the Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences, said the school is “operating, as you can imagine, at a huge loss” and could survive “maybe weeks, maybe maximum a month.”Muraly Srinarayanathas, owner of Computek College, which runs campuses in Scarborough, Markham and Ajax, warned of further cuts and possible class suspensions. “I think it’s going to be horrific,” he said, particularly for health-care employers such as nursing homes, hospitals and daycares that rely on the school’s graduates.At Anderson College, which has 10 campuses in the GTA and southern Ontario, president and CEO Heather Yang said students in at least one class broke into tears when told their courses were suspended. “They were working hard. They studied really well despite uncertainty,” she said. “They bonded with their classmates. They bonded with their instructors, and to just have this news announced, through no fault of their own. It’s just very devastating.”.The freeze has already contributed to the closure of the Harris Institute and class suspensions at Trillium College’s five campuses. Private career colleges depend heavily on OSAP tuition payments; without them, operators say they cannot cover payroll or continue programs for students who enrolled in good faith.Premier Doug Ford has previously said the government is “moving as quickly as we possibly can” to reform the rules while protecting taxpayer dollars from alleged fraud. Critics, including opposition MPPs, have argued the sector-wide approach is punishing legitimate schools and students while the KPMG review and police investigation continue.The province has not named the schools under the closest scrutiny and has given no firm date for any resumption of payments.
