Ford defends system of skills development funding, won’t axe minister under fire

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford is defending his government’s skills development funding system that allows a minister to hand-pick recipients against the advice of bureaucrats, even after referring an audit of one company to the police.

Labour Minister David Piccini has come under sustained fire from opposition parties calling for his resignation since an auditor general’s report found his office has been heavily involved in selecting projects under the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund — and has doled out money to applicants ranked low by bureaucrats without documenting why.

One such recipient, Keel Digital Solutions, is being closely scrutinized as media reports say one of its lobbyists is a close friend of Piccini’s.

Now, the government says it has asked the Ontario Provincial Police to look at the results of an audit of that identified “irregularities” dating back to 2023.

The company says in a statement that the audit refers to a contract it has had since 2020 with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to deliver student mental health services, not skills development funding, and it was repeatedly told by auditors there were no “red flags.”

Ford says today that while the bureaucrats who assign rankings to skills development applicants do a great job, they are not “in the field” to talk to front-line workers and see the training projects, and he is continuing to support Piccini.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press