Ontario inspects eight private career colleges over suspected OSAP fraud

Colleges inspected in person

8 colleges

Provincial investigators visited eight unnamed private career colleges, gathering information and interviewing people about possible irregularities or fraud. The province plans to widen the inspections to more schools and to the sector as a whole.

In early October, Ontario cut students at all 242 private career colleges off the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). An external audit's findings have been referred to the Ontario Provincial Police.

What the province alleges

• Co-ownership with immigration firms
• Students not verified as enrolled
• Applications clustered in the same areas

The province says some colleges were co-owned by immigration services and recruitment firms, could not verify that students were enrolled, and drew many OSAP applications from the same areas.

What's next

OSAP will not resume at private colleges until a stronger validation process is in place, expected in the new year, the colleges and universities minister said. Some colleges warn they may have to close, and one has suspended in-class instruction.