Ontario career colleges face scrutiny over student aid

A small group of private career colleges in Ontario has driven a significant surge in students receiving financial aid through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), according to new data. The total provincial grants disbursed to students at just seven of these institutions in 2024-25 reached approximately $385 million.

This substantial sum matches the total provincial grants allocated to students across all of Ontario's publicly funded colleges in the same year and surpasses the amount provided to all Ontario university students. This comes despite the provincial government's recent cuts to student assistance grants for university and public college students, while also barring career college students from grants, citing "unsustainable" OSAP costs.

Previous data had already indicated that nearly all recent growth in OSAP recipients was among career college students. The latest figures further pinpoint this expansion to a limited number of specific schools, some of which saw their OSAP-receiving student numbers jump from under 100 to several thousand within a couple of years.

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We continue to work constructively with ministry officials to identify possible remedies and next steps, especially where there may have been atypically large increases in the number of OSAP applications submitted that cannot be justified to the government’s satisfaction.

Career Colleges Ontario, the industry's advocacy group, stated it cannot comment on specific schools' alleged actions. However, the organization confirmed it has communicated concerns to the government regarding a few institutions experiencing "atypically large increases in the number of OSAP applications submitted that cannot be justified to the government’s satisfaction." The group emphasized its commitment to identifying remedies and protecting the integrity of the OSAP system, noting that indications of irregular conduct are rare among its members.

The revelations follow the Ontario government's decision to disqualify students at five career colleges from receiving OSAP in the upcoming academic year. Court filings from three of these schools indicate that concerns primarily focused on asynchronous learning programs, where students complete online coursework on their own schedule.

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It is important to emphasize that indications of irregular conduct are incredibly rare among our members. Protecting the integrity of their work and that of the OSAP system is our highest priority.