National Ballet School, divinity college students among those affected by OSAP pause

TORONTO — A recent pause on financial assistance payments to private post-secondary institutions in Ontario is affecting divinity schools, Canada’s National Ballet School and many others, with students feeling unfairly swept up in what they describe as a trawling net-like policy. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn announced last week that the province had tasked KPMG with auditing Ontario Student Assistance Program usage at career colleges, and that preliminary findings were of such concern that he referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police. While the audit is ongoing, Quinn said, OSAP payments to private post-secondary institutions would be paused.

Quinn said he is “working on” securing low-interest loans for affected students at financial institutions, but he has not indicated a timeline. Many career college students have said they are worried about the pause, with no clear end in sight and with some students relying on that financial aid to cover not just tuition but living expenses while they study. The broad nature of the pause affects all private post-secondary institutions, including private universities, chiropractic and naturopathic medicine colleges, and performing arts schools such as Canada’s National Ballet School.

Alessia Di Palma is in her last year of the ballet school’s five-year joint teacher training program with York University, and said she does not want to have to leave school when she is so close to finishing, but at the moment doesn’t know how she will pay her rent, even though she works two jobs while going to school. “My heart sunk when I found out because it’s unfair that I’ve had this funding for four years and then the fifth year it’s just gone now because of something that didn’t even have anything to do with me.” Initial concerns stemmed from activity at a few schools, Quinn’s office says, but evidence of “systemic issues” has come up in recent weeks. “At this time, we do not have assurances from the audit team that the issues are not more widespread, leaving us with no choice but to pause OSAP payments to all private institutions to protect taxpayer dollars and hold bad actors accountable,” spokesperson Bianca Giacoboni wrote in a statement.

“We understand this is creating uncertainty for students and are working quickly to develop options for low-interest, third-party loans …