Politicians return to Ontario legislature after 147-day break

TORONTO – Ontario politicians are set to return to Queen’s Park today after a 147-day break.

The house is expected to sit for 23 days in a short but intense session, a hallmark under Premier Doug Ford’s government since he won his third election in February 2025.

The government’s handling of the Ontario Student Assistance Program is expected to dominate question period.

Many students and their families are livid after the province paused OSAP payments to all students at career colleges for the next few months as it tries to get a handle on a burgeoning scandal amid concerns about OSAP activity at some schools.

The province revamped the student financial aid program by drastically cutting the percentage of grants in favour of loans, arguing the program was unsustainable.

But data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request points to larger-than-usual increases at some schools, including seven career colleges whose $385 million in OSAP grants in 2024-25 matched the amount that went to students at all publicly funded colleges in the province.

Career Colleges Ontario first began warning the province in 2023 of what they allege was suspicious use of OSAP funds at a small number of schools.

But it wasn’t until May of this year that Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn cut off six schools from OSAP eligibility.

The minister announced earlier this month that KPMG started in August an audit of OSAP at career colleges and he referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police based on “serious concerns” uncovered in the audit’s preliminary findings. He did not name the colleges that were the subject of the concerns referred to police.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2026.