OSAP pause leads career college to suspend classes

An Ontario career college has suspended its academic operations as a result of a province-wide pause on student financial assistance to all private post-secondary institutions.

Trillium College, with campuses in St. Catharines, Kingston, Oshawa, Sudbury and Cobourg, paused classroom and online instruction as of Friday, it said in a notice to students obtained and confirmed by The Canadian Press.

It comes after Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn announced earlier this month that Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to career colleges and other private post-secondary institutions are paused while an audit is underway.

Trillum wrote that it is offering interest-free payment arrangements, but many students have said they cannot make those payments without OSAP funding.

“Many students have also asked for more time to assess their financial circumstances, explore alternative payment options and determine how they can realistically continue their education,” the college wrote.

“Continuing normal classroom operations without a viable funding solution would place the orderly completion of student programs at greater risk. The pause gives students time to assess their options and allows Trillium to restructure schedules, staffing, payment arrangements and its return-to-class plan.”

Quinn’s office has said that while OSAP payments are paused, the government is exploring alternatives, but he has not yet offered a clear timeline.

“We recognize the impact that this pause is having on students and are working to develop options for low-interest, third-party loans facilitated by financial institutions to support students through this period of transition,” Bianca Giacoboni wrote in a statement.

The broad nature of the pause affects all private post-secondary institutions, including career colleges, private universities, chiropractic and naturopathic medicine colleges, and performing arts schools such as Canada’s National Ballet School.

The schools and their students are roundly condemning Quinn’s sweeping action and say consequences should be more targeted at any suspected bad actors.

Quinn’s office has said concerns have emerged about wider issues.

“Evidence of systemic issues that have compromised the integrity of the OSAP system left our government with no choice but to pause OSAP payments to all private institutions to protect taxpayer dollars and hold bad actors accountable,” Giacoboni wrote.

Career Colleges Ontario has warned the government repeatedly about potentially suspicious OSAP usage at a few colleges, including rapidly increasing numbers. Data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request show usage at some schools increasing by several hundred per cent, or over 1,000 per cent in some cases, in the span of three years.

Quinn has not named any specific colleges that may be under suspicion. Trillium College campuses were not among six where Quinn denied OSAP eligibility earlier this year.

The Canadian Press FOI data shows that OSAP usage across Trillium’s campuses between 2021-22 and 2024-25 rose by a comparatively low 64 per cent, including the addition of a new campus by the latter year.

The trend of rising OSAP usage at some schools appears to have started not long after the provincial government changed OSAP eligibility to include students in online and/or asynchronous programs. The change was first made during the COVID-19 pandemic then was later made permanent.

Quinn has said that many of the serious concerns stem from online-only programs and this fall the government will introduce legislation to make them ineligible for OSAP again.