OSAP FAIRNESS / ONTARIO
OSAP Fairness for Ontario Students
Ontario has paused OSAP payments to private postsecondary institutions while it investigates serious concerns about the integrity of OSAP applications. Students at institutions not identified as the source of those concerns need a fair path forward.
FAIRNESS FOR STUDENTS 01 / 08
THE CONTEXT Ontario's October 6, 2026 statement announced a pause on all OSAP payments associated with private postsecondary institutions while an audit proceeds.
Read the government statementWhat Started the OSAP Investigation?
The Province's own account makes the history clear. The Ministry says it began receiving an increasing number of complaints in late 2024 about the volume of OSAP applications at private career colleges. In January 2025, Career Colleges Ontario raised concerns about specific institutions.
The Ministry subsequently received additional information about certain private career colleges, conducted targeted inspections and issued notices of non-renewal to six campuses. Their OSAP eligibility was later suspended.
The Province then expanded its review and commissioned a broader audit of private postsecondary institutions. That broader review has resulted in OSAP payments being paused for all private postsecondary institutions, including established not-for-profit private degree-granting colleges and universities that the Ministry's statement did not identify as the source of the original complaints.
The concerns described by the Ministry began in the private career college sector. The funding pause reaches much further.
Read Ontario's statementOPIs Are Not Private Career Colleges
Ontario's postsecondary system includes different categories of institution. Established not-for-profit private degree-granting colleges and universities are often categorized as Other Private Institutions (OPIs) for OSAP purposes. They provide degree education outside Ontario's publicly assisted university and college system. Many possess statutory or otherwise recognized degree-granting authority.
Career colleges provide vocational programs and are separately regulated under Ontario's career-college legislation. Their programs and regulatory framework differ from those of established private degree-granting institutions.
An OPI is not simply another name for a private career college. Treating the two as interchangeable ignores Ontario's own regulatory structure. Students at compliant OPIs should not lose their OSAP because of concerns identified elsewhere.
The OSAP Record Also Shows a Difference
Ontario has historically reported OSAP performance for career colleges separately from other private institutions. In its published 2023 OSAP statistics, the student-loan default rate for career colleges was 7.4%. The rate for the combined category of other private and publicly funded institutions was 2.5%.
The 2.5% figure is not an OPI-only rate. Even so, the separate reporting shows that Ontario recognizes different institution categories and different performance profiles. A blanket funding pause should not erase those distinctions.
Investigate the Problem — Don’t Punish Unrelated Students
There is nothing wrong with the Province investigating credible concerns about misuse of OSAP. If a particular institution has submitted questionable applications, failed to verify enrolment, participated in inappropriate recruitment practices or otherwise failed to comply with OSAP requirements, the Ministry should investigate that institution and take appropriate action.
But enforcement should be connected to the conduct being investigated. Where an established not-for-profit private degree-granting college or university has no identified OSAP compliance problem, its students should not lose access to financial assistance while the Ministry investigates unrelated institutions.
Program integrity does not require collective punishment.
06 / THE HUMAN IMPACT
Students Are Paying the Price
OSAP is not simply money paid to an institution. For thousands of Ontario students, it helps cover tuition, rent and housing, food, childcare, transportation, books and educational expenses, and basic living costs while attending school.
These students enrolled in approved programs and arranged their lives on the understanding that the OSAP assistance for which they qualified would be available. They did not cause the problems now being investigated. They should not bear the consequences.
Student voices
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Ontario Can Protect OSAP Without Harming Innocent Students
We are asking the Government of Ontario to take a targeted approach.
Immediately allow OSAP funding to resume for eligible students attending established, not-for-profit private degree-granting colleges and universities — including institutions categorized as Other Private Institutions (OPIs) — where there is no institution-specific compliance concern.
At the same time, the Ministry can continue any audits, investigations or enhanced oversight it considers necessary concerning private career colleges, institutional arrangements, or individual institutions that have actually raised OSAP compliance concerns.
Ontario’s response should reflect the distinction between established private degree-granting institutions and the private career college sector where the concerns that prompted the current scrutiny arose.
The Ministry can protect the integrity of OSAP without withholding funding from students attending institutions that have not been identified as presenting the same compliance concerns.
Investigate the institutions and arrangements that have raised concerns. Allow OSAP funding to continue flowing to eligible students at compliant OPIs.
Apply Scrutiny Where the Problems Exist
The current OSAP concerns did not begin with established not-for-profit private degree-granting colleges and universities. The Ministry should address the concerns it identified directly rather than treating every private postsecondary institution as though it presents the same risk.
Different sectors should be treated differently. Compliant institutions should not be presumed guilty because of problems elsewhere. Students should not lose their education, housing, childcare or ability to meet basic living expenses because of conduct with which they have no connection.
Allow OSAP funds to flow immediately to eligible students attending established not-for-profit private degree-granting colleges and universities where there is no identified institution-specific OSAP compliance concern. Continue investigating private career colleges and any other institution where evidence justifies scrutiny. Protect the integrity of OSAP. Protect Ontario students. Address the problem where the problem exists.
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