An audit firm that is investigating student financial aid usage at Ontario career colleges is making it a priority to clear lower-risk schools first so their funding can be unfrozen, Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday, but he was not clear on a timeline. Ford’s government paused Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to all career colleges and private post-secondary institutions while KPMG is conducting an audit looking at serious concerns with the integrity of the system. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn has said the audit’s preliminary findings include concerns about inadequate student validation and verification of course enrolment, and unusually high concentrations of OSAP from the same geographic locations. He has referred those preliminary findings to the Ontario Provincial Police. Quinn has said he paused OSAP payments to all private post-secondary institutions while that audit is ongoing because concerns are systemic and he wants to ensure the integrity of the system. But colleges, students and critics say it is too blunt of an instrument and is making students pay the price even at schools where no concerns have been raised. Many students say they don’t know how they will pay their rent and living expenses, let alone tuition, without their OSAP funding that had been previously approved. Ford said Wednesday that his government has asked KPMG to look at the most reliable colleges first, but he did not give a specific idea of timing. “We’ve asked KPMG to prioritize low-risk colleges,” he said. “Let’s get them back up and moving as quickly as possible, and that’s our goal.” ‘This is a crisis they created’ Tatiana Bramnik, a vice-president at APlus Institute, said students at her dental hygienist career college are already having to withdraw and she is facing the prospect of having to consider layoffs with OSAP-funded students unable to pay their tuition. Quinn should not have enacted a blanket OSAP pause in the first place, Bramnik said. “This is a crisis they created, and now they don’t know how to deal with it,” she said. Bramnik and her business partner came to Canada 33 years ago as immigrants from the former Soviet Union and many of their students are immigrants, she said, people who were professionals in their home country and want the accelerated education a career college can provide so they can start working and support their families. “Dental hygiene is a good opportunity, still in high demand, and very well paid, so it’s a chance,” she said. “It’s a chance to have a normal life, to be able to live your life fully and give this to your children.” Career Colleges Ontario said in a statement that it is hopeful that OSAP will be restored “without delay” for students at compliant institutions. “Our position has been consistent: concerns about some institutions should not result in students at compliant colleges losing access to the financial assistance they rely on,” the association wrote in a statement. “For many students, OSAP helps cover not only tuition, but also rent, food, transportation, books and other essential living costs. Restoring access for students at compliant institutions is urgent.” Quinn has said the OSAP pause will last until the government puts a new and strengthened approval process in place for career colleges, and he expects that to be done in the new year. Students being punished: NDP NDP critic Peggy Sattler said students at institutions who have always followed the rules should never have been caught up in this in the first place. “Students did all the right things,” she said. “They are pursuing careers in professions that we desperately need in Ontario, and they are being punished for this minister’s incompetence.” Quinn has also said the government is reaching out to banks to try to secure third-party loans for students while OSAP is paused, but he has not given any updates on that in the month since making the announcement. Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said students can’t wait until the new year. “People live paycheque to paycheque,” he said. “The premier doesn’t understand that.” Ford also said the KPMG report will “eventually” be released, but he doesn’t want to jeopardize a potential OPP investigation. That is counter to what Quinn said Tuesday, when he said the audit would not be made public. A spokesperson for Quinn said later Tuesday that they will “consider” releasing information from the audit if it doesn’t compromise a potential police investigation, a potential future auditor general investigation, “or the ministry’s efforts to obtain evidence, recover funds and hold bad actors accountable.” The government is in panic mode, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner suggested. “I think the government knows they have completely mismanaged the OSAP file, and they don’t know what to do about it,” he said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026. Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
