Court records show Ontario's 'serious concerns' about three career colleges

TORONTO — Ontario government officials who inspected three career colleges found evidence suggesting third parties were completing the coursework — sometimes entire courses in one day — and a few students who couldn’t name their school or program, they alleged in reports filed in court. Inspection reports for three Academy of Learning locations are among hundreds of pages of documents that make up the record in a court challenge as the schools seek to overturn a government decision that cut off their ability to offer financial aid. “Inspection findings indicate that AOL Bay is unable to demonstrate that OSAP-funded students are actively participating in the programs they are enrolled in,” the government’s OSAP compliance unit wrote in a September 2025 inspection report for a downtown Toronto location.

“This raises serious concerns about the reliability of the institution’s admissions practices, student identity verification, and the accuracy of academic progression and attendance records.” The schools deny most of the allegations and also say they have taken the government’s concerns seriously, including already implementing numerous corrective actions. The three Academy of Learning locations are among 10 that Career Colleges Ontario flagged for the government in January 2025 as having “concerning” levels of growth in applications for the Ontario Student Assistance Program — jumping 500 and 600 per cent in two years — while other schools’ activity was largely flat, the college association said in a letter. Data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request found that about 14,800 students at those three Academy of Learning franchise locations received more than $219 million in OSAP grants in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, students at all publicly funded colleges across Ontario qualified for about $385 million in OSAP grants that year, freedom-of-information data shows. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn informed five career colleges, including the three Academy of Learning locations, on May 1 that they would not be OSAP eligible as of Aug. The three schools, which share a parent company, have applied for judicial review of that decision, alleging Quinn did not have the power to predetermine their eligibility for this year and that his decision is unreasonable.

Court records show Quinn’s decision followed inspections last year a…