OPP yet to launch formal probe into alleged ‘egregious’ OSAP use at career colleges

As the Ford government faces increasing scrutiny over how a handful of private career colleges tapped into the OSAP system, Ontario’s provincial police say they are reviewing the allegations but have yet to decide on whether to launch a formal criminal probe.

In early October, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities sounded the alarm about six private career colleges that were engaged in “egregious use of taxpayer dollars” and accused them of criminality by taking advantage of the student assistance program.

Nolan Quinn said an internal investigation found “unusually high concentrations of OSAP applications submitted from the same geographic locations” and also pointed to the involvement of “immigration services firms” being directly tied to or co-owned by some career colleges in question.

After referring the findings to auditing firm KPMG for a deeper dive, Quinn said the government had also “reported it to the OPP and the Auditor General.”