Ontario’s colleges and universities minister has barred three career colleges from being able to offer publicly funded student financial assistance until at least 2030, after previously blocking them from the program just for this year.
An order from Nolan Quinn in May meant that six schools, including four Academy of Learning locations, could not access the Ontario Student Assistance Program for the 2026-27 academic year, which most of them are fighting in court.
Quinn’s decision followed government inspections that found evidence suggesting third parties were completing the coursework — sometimes entire courses in one day — and a few students who couldn’t name their school or program, officials allege in documents filed in court.
Three Academy of Learning locations, who share a parent company, updated their court complaint earlier this month to say that Quinn has now blocked them from OSAP for three more years following a “final” decision by his ministry.
WATCH | OSAP freeze leaves private career college students in limbo:
OSAP freeze leaves private career college students in limbo
Students attending private career colleges in Ontario say they’re facing financial uncertainty after the provincial government paused Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) payments for those attending the institutions. CBC Ottawa’s David Fraser has more.
Rules governing the sector say that if an institution is found to be in non-compliance with those rules, they will not be eligible for OSAP for three years.
In a statement Wednesday, Bianca Giacoboni, press secretary for Quinn, said the six schools where applications for OSAP have skyrocketed had their OSAP suspended due to “non-compliance.”
Giacoboni said the ministry took action against the schools before it paused OSAP to all private career colleges and the pause is about protecting the entire post-secondary sector.
“Institutions are not permitted to use OSAP approval as a marketing tool or identify the availability of OSAP assistance, directly or indirectly, in any advertising or promotion of the institution,” Giacoboni said.
“Third-party recruiters are also not permitted to apply for OSAP on behalf of any student.”
Minister’s decision unreasonable, schools argue
The schools argue in their court application that Quinn’s decision was unreasonable and procedurally unfair.
The ministry “imposed and relied upon new approval criteria and evidentiary standards without adequate prior notice, and relied upon adverse information and analyses that was not adequately disclosed,” the schools wrote.
A view of the Ontario legislative building is shown here. Career Colleges Ontario began raising concerns about the use of OSAP at some career colleges in 2023. (David Donnelly/CBC)
Concerns about the use of OSAP at some career colleges are not limited to the six locations initially targeted by Quinn’s order. Career Colleges Ontario began raising concerns in 2023, and in February highlighted 14 campuses whose application patterns “include indicators consistent with possible suspicious activity,” they wrote to the government in a letter filed as part of the court case.
Quinn announced last week that the government called in auditors KPMG in August and based on “serious concerns” in their preliminary findings, the province has referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police.
The concerns include the involvement of immigration services firms and co-location between private career colleges and immigration recruitment or 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, Quinn said.
He did not say if those issues apply to the three Academy of Learning locations he has now blocked from OSAP until 2029-30, though ministry inspectors expressed concerns about student validation and course enrolment verification at those schools, court records show.
None of the findings and allegations have been proven in court.
Academy of Learning defends integrity of programs
The Academy of Learning said in a statement that it takes the integrity of its programs seriously.
“Over the past year, we have made significant investments to strengthen admissions, identity verification, academic monitoring and compliance, and we remain committed to fully implementing our corrective action plan,” they wrote.
“Our priority remains our students. A further three-year bar from OSAP would have serious consequences for adult learners who rely on financial assistance to access career training, which is why we are asking the court to review the decision.”
The Academy of Learning has previously also said students may not have responded to government verification attempts because they believed them to be scam calls, and other students may have had language difficulties.
As well, the schools had submitted corrective action plans in response to their failed inspections, showing dozens of actions taken to remedy problems identified by the province including two-factor authentication and investigation of unusual login activity, they noted.
The instances of unusually rapid completion of courses warrants review, the Academy acknowledged, but said some students download materials to study off-line. The schools have implemented additional monitoring of files before exam codes are issued, they said.
3 schools accounted for fifth of OSAP in 2024-25
Data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request shows that the Academy of Learning’s Bay Street location went from 996 students on OSAP in 2021-22 to 7,435 in 2024-25. In that year, students qualified for more than $108 million in provincial OSAP grants.
The Brampton East location went from about 74 students accessing OSAP in 2020-21 to 4,260 in 2024-25, for a total of more than $64 million in provincial OSAP grants in the latter year.
Those two schools, plus the North York location, which is a campus of the Brampton East location, accounted for one-fifth of the nearly $1 billion in provincial OSAP grants that went to all career colleges that year.
The Academy of Learning says high growth in applications was due to offering programs relevant to workforce needs.
In response to rising OSAP costs, Quinn earlier this year announced that career college students would no longer be able to access grants, and students at publicly funded colleges and universities would qualify for much lower grant amounts, with a higher proportion of loans.
When Quinn announced last week that he had referred concerns to the OPP, he also said that OSAP loan payments for students at all career colleges and private post-secondary institutions across the province are paused while the KPMG audit is ongoing.
‘Students deserve answers,’ Liberals say
Ontario Liberals, meanwhile, are calling on the government to restore OSAP funding for private colleges where there is no evidence of wrongdoing.
MPP Tyler Watt, Liberal critic for colleges and universities, said the pause on OSAP is affecting thousands of students who are unable to pay rent, buy groceries or pay bills.
“Where is Premier Doug Ford, where is Minister Nolan Quinn and where is the accountability?” Watt asked.
“Investigate the potential fraud. Cut off the bad actors. But we have to restore OSAP for students who did nothing wrong. Students deserve answers. Taxpayers deserve answers.”