Don’t target all students for possible OSAP misuse at a few schools, association says

Career Colleges Ontario has called on the provincial government to restore financial aid for students at career colleges who have already been approved and are currently attending classes in person. The government temporarily suspended OSAP payments for career college students last week while an audit investigates potential criminal activity at certain schools. Premier Nolan Quinn also announced that his government will introduce legislation to exclude online-only programs at private career colleges from OSAP eligibility.

Quinn's government made online-only programs eligible for OSAP during the COVID-19 pandemic and made it permanent later. Data obtained through a freedom-of-information request by The Canadian Press reveals that shortly after these programs became eligible, OSAP usage at a limited number of schools surged. In fact, just seven career colleges received the same amount of OSAP funding as all publicly funded colleges combined.

Career Colleges Ontario, which has been warning the government about potential misuse of OSAP since 2023, argues that a more targeted approach is needed instead of disrupting the education of students who have followed the rules.