Citi College challenges Ontario’s decision to suspend OSAP funding

A second private career college in Ontario has challenged the provincial government’s decision to suspend its access to student financial aid, arguing that officials relied on unclear findings and imposed technological requirements that had not previously been communicated to the institution.

Citi College of Canadian Careers has filed an application for judicial review in Ontario’s Divisional Court, contesting the decision to block two of its campuses from the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) for the 2026-27 academic year.

The move follows a similar court challenge by three Academy of Learning locations, which were also affected by the province’s May decision to bar six private career college campuses from receiving OSAP funding.

The province cited concerns over what it described as high-risk admissions practices and other compliance issues. The allegations have not been tested or proven in court.

In its application, Citi College argues that Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn failed to establish a rational link between the evidence and his conclusions. It also says the order did not identify specific instances of alleged non-compliance.

The college disputes the ministry’s findings on compromised student participation, inadequate attendance tracking and its alleged inability to reliably determine whether students were genuinely pursuing their studies.

“These findings are not justified, transparent, or intelligible,” the college argued, pointing to its previous regulatory approvals and the safeguards it says were already in place.

Citi College said it had been authorised to administer OSAP for 20 consecutive years and that two ministry audits conducted last year concluded without adverse findings.

Province intensifies scrutiny of student aid

The legal dispute comes as Ontario steps up its scrutiny of OSAP funding at private career colleges following years of warnings from Career Colleges Ontario about potentially suspicious activity at a small number of institutions.

A spokesperson for the minister said the government had taken targeted action, including inspections, after receiving an increased number of complaints.

“As part of the province’s work to monitor compliance at private career colleges, corrective action was taken to issue notices of non-renewal to six campuses, including Citi College of Canadian Careers who have since had their OSAP eligibility suspended,” Bianca Giacoboni said in a statement.

Last week, Quinn announced that KPMG had begun an audit of OSAP at career colleges in August. He also referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police after preliminary audit findings raised what he described as serious concerns.

The minister did not identify the colleges connected to the concerns referred to police.

Citi College’s lawyer, Harris Rosen, said the institution was not aware of being implicated in the issues raised by KPMG or in the police referral.

College disputes sharp rise in OSAP enrolment

Figures obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request show that OSAP-supported enrolment at Citi College’s two campuses rose from about 133 students in 2021-22 to 1,754 three years later, an increase of roughly 1,200 per cent.

The figures follow a January 2025 letter in which Career Colleges Ontario flagged sharp increases in OSAP usage at 10 schools. One institution recorded a rise of nearly 2,700 per cent over two years. The identities of most colleges listed in the letter were redacted, leaving it unclear whether Citi College was among them.

Citi College has argued that the growth figures need to be viewed in context.

In an earlier statement, Rosen said the increase appeared particularly large because it was calculated from a relatively low enrolment base during the pandemic period. He argued that using a pre-pandemic baseline and a compound annual growth rate would put the college’s annual growth at about 38 per cent.

The college also cited the expansion of online education, wider geographic access and the relatively short duration of its programmes as factors contributing to increased enrolment.

In its court filing, Citi College further argues that the ministry judged it against new technological and monitoring expectations that had not been communicated in advance. These allegedly included continuous webcam monitoring, long-term retention of internet protocol (IP) records, forensic IP analysis and restrictions on virtual private networks (VPNs).

Quinn has said many of the concerns raised by the province relate to online-only programmes. The government plans to introduce legislation this fall to make predominantly online programmes at private career colleges ineligible for OSAP.

Meanwhile, the minister has paused OSAP payments at all private post-secondary institutions, extending uncertainty across the sector as the government reviews compliance and the affected colleges contest the funding restrictions.

Citi College said it remains committed to meeting its regulatory obligations and helping existing students complete their programmes.