Ottawa students who felt the squeeze of OSAP cuts this fall now have a provincial audit request to follow. The Ontario Liberals are asking the auditor general to investigate provincial student financial aid spending at private career colleges.
What the Liberals are asking for
Liberal colleges and universities critic Tyler Watt requested a value-for-money audit of the spending increases and of the government's oversight of the Ontario Student Assistance Program, known as OSAP. At a Monday press conference, Watt said the situation has the makings of "Doug Ford's next billion-dollar scandal."
The numbers behind the request
The request rests on a sharp jump in spending. Between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, the province spent $465 million more on OSAP grants, and 95 per cent of that went to private career college students.
In 2024-25, career college students received nearly $1 billion in OSAP grants. Just seven career colleges accounted for $385 million of that total.
The government's response
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn has called OSAP costs unsustainable. The government cut grants and limited career college students to loans only.
Watt criticized that response as too broad. "The government took a hatchet to a problem that required a scalpel, and it ruined OSAP for everyone," he said.
What the auditor general says
The auditor general's office said all 2026 audits are underway, but that it would take Watt's request into account for future audit planning. No audit has been announced, and it is not yet known whether one will go ahead.
What led here for Ottawa students
The cuts Watt describes are the same ones that reached local campuses. You can read ottown's earlier report for how that played out locally.
What happens next
The sources do not say whether the auditor general will take up the request, or when any such work might begin. For now, the office says only that its 2026 audits are already underway and that the request will inform future planning. Readers who rely on OSAP can expect the debate over who gets grants, and how the province keeps track of the money, to continue.
Sources: CP24 (Canadian Press), CHCH (Canadian Press)
