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.
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minister → bar → year
An order in May from Nolan Quinn 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.
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most → mean → 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.
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officials → follow → 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.
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Quinn → share → ministry
Quinn’s office would not comment, but 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.
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they → comment → years
The schools argue in their court application that Quinn’s decision was unreasonable and procedurally unfair.
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decision → argue → application
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.
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schools → impose → information
Concerns about the use of OSAP at some career colleges are not limited to the six locations initially targeted by Quinn’s order.
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Concerns → limit → 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.
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they → begin → 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.
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province → announce → 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.
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Quinn → include → locations
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, courts records show.
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records → say → schools
None of the findings and allegations have been proven in court.
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None → prove → court
The Academy of Learning did not respond to a request for comment about the additional three-year OSAP ban, but has previously 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.
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students → respond → 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.
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they → submit → activity
The instances of unusually rapid completion of courses warrants review, the Academy acknowledged, but said some students download materials to study off-line.
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students → acknowledge → line
The schools have implemented additional monitoring of files before exam codes are issued, they said.
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they → implement → files
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.
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location → obtain → 2024
In that year, students qualified for more than $108-million in provincial OSAP grants.
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students → qualify → 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.
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location → go → 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.
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that → account → colleges
The Academy of Learning says high growth in applications was due to offering programs relevant to work force needs.
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growth → say → 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.
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students → rise → 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 postsecondary institutions across the province are paused while the KPMG audit is ongoing.
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audit → announce → province
The Aporia
