Ontario career college sector thrown into ‘uncertainty’ without OSAP decisions

TORONTO — Ontario has delayed decisions on whether individual career colleges across the province will be eligible for student financial aid this academic year amid questions about unusual activity at a small number of schools, throwing the entire sector into uncertainty.

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities often approves which schools can accept Ontario Student Assistance Program funding over the summer, but career colleges and their thousands of students are still anxiously waiting in early October, with the academic year already well underway at many schools.

Career Colleges Ontario, an association representing the sector and the body that processes their students’ OSAP applications, said the approval delays are causing significant disruption for schools, which have to make operational decisions without clear information or timelines, and for students who don’t know if they can afford to start – or remain in – classes.

The delay comes as the government is under fire for what critics describe as a lack of oversight and inaction on unusually rapid OSAP growth at several career colleges, flagged to the ministry as possibly “suspicious” by Career Colleges Ontario as far back as January 2023.

“We hope the government will introduce a policy that promptly addresses improper conduct and targets those who have acted wrongly,” the association wrote in a statement.

“Career Colleges Ontario was instrumental in bringing these concerns forward to the government in the first place, and it is not fair that students across the sector who have done nothing wrong are now being impacted as a result.”

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The sector-wide delays are affecting not just schools that Career Colleges Ontario raised concerns about, but also schools such as Mothercraft, which has been offering early childhood education programs for decades and has a “stellar” compliance record, said executive director Michele Lupa.

“We’re still waiting to hear if we continue to be an eligible institution for OSAP,” Lupa said in an interview.

“So, needless to say, that’s a little concerning. We’re six weeks into the academic year, and we have students who are relying on OSAP to be able to carry out their studies. So they’re getting anxious, needless to say, and we are too.”

Mothercraft graduates about 125 new ECEs every year, and those graduates are especially critical at a time when the child-care sector is trying to expand under the national affordable child-care program, Lupa said.

Also in high demand at the moment are dental hygienists, and first-semester student Daliah Gardoque’s program at the Toronto College of Dental Hygiene and Auxiliaries is in OSAP limbo, too.

“It’s extremely stressful,” said Gardoque, who started an online petition asking the ministry to “urgently address the ongoing uncertainty.”

“I’m privileged enough to have a decent amount of savings, but that’s only to keep me afloat until the end of first semester. So after that, I wouldn’t really know what I’m going to do. But a lot of people are right now not focused on their exams just because they’re thinking like, ‘Is there any point?’ Because if OSAP doesn’t come in the next month, they might as well drop out.”

The OSAP delays follow a ministry decision not to renew the eligibility this year for five career colleges. Reporting by The Canadian Press has since detailed ministry allegations against some of those schools, including that inspectors found evidence suggesting third parties were completing the coursework, and students who completed all of a course’s quizzes and exams in a single day.

The schools deny most of the allegations made against them, and they have not been proven in court.

Quinn has justified a decision to sharply cut back on the amount of grants that all students at universities and publicly funded colleges in Ontario can receive by saying OSAP funding was becoming “unsustainable.”

Reporting by The Canadian Press has shown that 95 per cent of a year-over-year increase in 2024-25 went to career college students and that growth was concentrated among a small number of schools.

The total of provincial grants sent to students at just seven career colleges in 2024-25 was about $385 million. That’s the same amount of provincial grants given to students at all of Ontario’s publicly funded colleges, and more than all Ontario university students.

Career Colleges Ontario has raised concerns with the ministry about “indicators consistent with suspicious activity” in OSAP applications at a few schools dating back to January 2023, according to a letter filed in court in a case involving three schools.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press