On a recent afternoon at the Southern Ontario Dental College, worries about paying the bills were as common as the mouth mirrors and polishing wands the future hygienists used to clean their clients’ teeth.
asserted
hygienists → pay → teeth
Katerina Athanasopoulos, a 35-year-old mother of three who commutes two hours each way from Sarnia for her classes at the school in Ancaster, a community in Hamilton, worried about having to pick up extra shifts at her part-time job as a dental assistant, on top of the 40 hours a week she spends in dental hygiene school.
asserted
she → commute → school
Konika Bhalwal, 31, worried about making rent and having to ask her boyfriend to help pay for her groceries.
asserted
Bhalwal → worry → groceries
Isabella Quenneville, 27, worried about being forced to quit for financial reasons in the middle of the program, having already taken on student debt to pay for her first year of hygienist training.
asserted
Quenneville → worry → training
All three women and their classmates are feeling vulnerable because of the Ontario government’s decision earlier this month to pause Ontario Student Assistance Program loan payments to tens of thousands of students attending private postsecondary institutions, including Southern Ontario Dental College – even though there is no suggestion the students or their school did anything wrong.
asserted
students → feel → anything
“We’re all very scared,” Ms. Quenneville said.
asserted
Quenneville → ’re → ?
“We’ve been trying to keep each other very positive because we’ve heard nothing, and it’s so easy to spiral out of control and feel helpless because we are helpless right now.
asserted
we → try → control
The sudden freeze, which the Progressive Conservatives say they imposed to safeguard the financial aid program after explosive growth in OSAP applications and allegations of wrongdoing in online-only programming at fewer than 10 private career colleges, has put the entire for-profit educational sector in Ontario on shaky financial footing.
asserted
they → say → footing
At least one vocational school with multiple campuses, Trillium College, has already suspended academic programming because it can’t get by without OSAP.
asserted
it → suspend → OSAP
As Ontario politicians returned to the legislature Tuesday for the first time since June, Opposition MPPs called on Premier Doug Ford to fire Nolan Quinn, the Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, who they accused of punishing hundreds of blameless private colleges for the alleged sins of a few.
asserted
they → return → few
The Liberals and NDP noted that the PC government had been warned as far back as January of 2023 by Career Colleges Ontario – the association that represents schools now imperilled by the pause – of massive spikes in OSAP applications at some career colleges that smacked of “suspicious activity.”
asserted
that → note → activity
Mr. Quinn “looked the other way” and “dragged his feet” on inspecting private colleges he now accuses of defrauding OSAP, said Peggy Sattler, the NDP critic for colleges and universities.
asserted
Sattler → look → colleges
“Clearly, he has failed to do his job.”
asserted
he → fail → job
The Premier defended Mr. Quinn, who told the legislature he had no choice but to halt loans to all career college students while a third-party auditor and the Ontario Provincial Police investigate.
asserted
auditor → defend → students
“We need to hold the bad actors accountable,” Mr. Quinn said.
asserted
Quinn → need → ?
“If what we have found proves to be what we think it is, then it is nothing short of criminal.”
asserted
it → find → what
Hundreds of pages of court documents, first reported on by The Canadian Press, shed light on what the Ministry’s OSAP Inspection and Compliance Unit allegedly discovered when it inspected three Greater Toronto Area campuses of a private career college called Academy of Learning in 2025.
uncertain
it → report → 2025
The schools were among six notified in May that their OSAP eligibility wouldn’t be renewed for the coming academic year.
uncertain
eligibility → notify → year
Ministry inspectors allege they found red flags with online-only programs at Academy of Learning campuses in Brampton, North York and downtown Toronto, including dozens of students accessing coursework from the same IP addresses, often located outside North America.
asserted
they → allege → America
They found evidence that students completed entire asynchronous online courses in a day or two and finished exams in less than five minutes.
asserted
students → find → minutes
And when inspectors contacted apparent students, some couldn’t “name the institution, program or courses they completed” or “communicate independently in English,” according to inspection reports.
uncertain
they → contact → reports
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
asserted
None → prove → court
Owners of the three Academy of Learning franchises deny wrongdoing.
asserted
Owners → deny → wrongdoing
They responded to concerns raised by inspectors with detailed corrective action plans, and say they were working in good faith with a ministry-approved compliance monitor when they learned their OSAP status wouldn’t be renewed.
asserted
status → respond → monitor
Before loan payments were paused across the sector, there were 242 private postsecondary institutions in Ontario whose students were eligible for OSAP.
asserted
students → pause → OSAP
Although the freeze applies to private universities, chiropractic and naturopathic medicine colleges and even Canada’s National Ballet School, most of the institutions affected are private career colleges.
asserted
most → apply → institutions
Private career colleges offer short, skill-specific training programs for jobs such as hairdressers, personal support workers, medical office assistants and early childhood educators.
asserted
colleges → offer → hairdressers
They tend to attract new Canadians, recent high school graduates from working-class backgrounds, and parents looking to upskill.
asserted
They → tend → backgrounds
They also tend to charge higher fees than most public colleges and universities because they aren’t subsidized by taxpayers.
asserted
they → tend → taxpayers
Tuition for Southern Ontario Dental College’s 22-month hygienist program, for instance, is $51,997, an amount that covers everything from scrubs to textbooks to dental equipment.
asserted
that → cover → equipment
It’s no surprise, then, that low-income students taking expensive courses would rely on financial aid.
asserted
students → ’ → aid
At Southern Ontario Dental College, more than 90 per cent do.
asserted
cent → do → College
Their OSAP disbursements for this academic year had already been approved.
asserted
disbursements → approve → year
Most were expecting lump sums of a few thousand dollars or more in September to defray living costs while they attend school full-time.
asserted
they → expect → school
The dental college itself was expecting about $2-million in tuition payments from OSAP, its chief source of revenue.
asserted
college → expect → revenue
Although classes are carrying on as usual for now, “the hard reality is, we can’t survive if we don’t have the money,” said Alysse Estrabillo, the college’s chief operating officer.
asserted
Estrabillo → carry → money
She and her husband, dentist Roland Estrabillo, have owned the college for 22 years.
asserted
She → own → years
They have about 70 staff and 282 students to think of.
asserted
They → have → staff
“I’m a big mama bear,” Ms. Estrabillo said, “and I just feel sick to my stomach.”
asserted
I → ’m → stomach
‘Serious concerns’ are flagged
That ill feeling has been spreading through the private postsecondary sector ever since Mr. Quinn announced the OSAP loan pause on Oct. 6.
asserted
Quinn → flag → Oct.
…and 70 more, not listed.
The Aporia
