Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he feels "terrible" for honest students caught up in a career college system where financial aid is now unavailable.
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn paused Ontario Student Assistance Program payments at all private post-secondary institutions earlier this month after he says preliminary findings of a KPMG audit turned up significant concerns.
Critics say the ministry should have acted sooner on a spike in OSAP usage at a relatively small number of career colleges, and they question why the solution is to make all students pay the price.
The opposition parties spent much of question period on the first day of the legislature returning from a 147-day break calling for Quinn to be fired for his handling of the issue, but Ford says Quinn is doing "an incredible job."
Ford says he feels badly for the students "trapped" in the career college system, and he hopes that if any fraud is found people will go to jail.
Quinn has referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police, who are reviewing the information to determine whether to launch an investigation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2026.
