Grade 11 student Tobias Harrison was counting on OSAP grants to help him pay for his post-secondary school aspirations, but drastic changes to Ontario’s student grant program have left him speechless. “It was absolutely devastating when I found out. I have no idea what to do now,” the Grade 11 student at John Diefenbaker Senior School said. On a rainy day, Harrison was joined by approximately 50 of his fellow high school students in Hanover, and by thousands more across Ontario, for a province wide walkout to protest changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Currently, up to 85 per cent of the financial aid students receive through OSAP can come in the form of provincial grants that don’t need to be repaid. Under the proposed changes, only 25 per cent of OSAP funding would come from grants, with the rest provided as loans that students would have to pay back. “Education is already so expensive. We need to have a way to get through school. I know many people who have said that they aren’t going to go to school now if this stays in place,” explained Vivian Bender, a Grade 12 student at John Diefenbaker Secondary School and the local student walkout organizer. The provincial government has defended the OSAP changes, saying it’s the only way to make the program sustainable. In 2024-25, Ontario spent $1.7 billion on O.S.A.P grants, a 143% increase over 2020 levels, say government officials. Estimates suggest O.S.A.P grants would cost the province $4.1 billion by 2028-29, with a program overhaul. “To restore sustainability to OSAP and ensure its availability for future generations, our government is aligning Ontario’s student financial support framework with other jurisdictions across Canada. Our government has been clear, due to billions of dollars of pressure on the program from the federal government’s decision to remove grant eligibility from students at private career colleges, coupled with increased program uptake in recent years, the OSAP framework was no longer sustainable,” says a statement from the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence, and Security. “If there was such a problem with OSAP, we should make something new, not make cuts that just harm other people,” said Bender. “I didn’t grow up in a rich family. I don’t have a lot of money to my name. I have to work for every single penny I have, and I’ve always known growing up that my only chance of post-secondary education is grants through the Ontario government. And now that Ford has slashed those down, I don’t think I’m going to have a chance to go to post-secondary school. Which means my job choices are slashed down. I don’t have a lot of prospects for my future anymore, thanks to Doug Ford,” said Harrison. “I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, that’s the way she goes.’ Nobody cares about this other than a few people, well, they could just go ahead and cut something that you need. Or they could cut funding to public schools. No more auto shops, or transportation, no more manufacturing, because they don’t have the funding to do that,” said Grade 11 student, Cameron Edwards.
