PC MPPs Vote Down Ontario Liberal Motion for Auditor General OSAP Probe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2 November, 2026

QUEEN'S PARK, ON — Progressive Conservative MPPs on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts today voted down an Ontario Liberal motion that would have required the Auditor General of Ontario to conduct a value-for-money audit of the OSAP scandal.

Ontario Liberal MPP Lee Fairclough, Second Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, moved the motion. MPP Tyler Watt, Ontario Liberal Critic for Colleges and Universities, spoke to it.

In 2023, Career Colleges Ontario sounded the alarm about misuse to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. In 2024, it suggested referring the matter to the police. In 2025, the federal government itself flagged irregularities. In 2024-25, students at just seven private career college campuses received $385 million in OSAP grants. That is the same amount that went to students at all of Ontario's publicly funded colleges.

The Ford government notified the Auditor General but never asked her for an audit, even though the Auditor General Act gives the Minister the power to request one. Instead, it hired KPMG to conduct a private audit and has refused to give any updates on its findings.

“This government keeps telling Ontarians these are serious allegations. Today, it voted against the one audit it can't control,” said Watt. “KPMG reports to the government that hired it. The Auditor General reports to the people of Ontario. If the Premier had nothing to hide, he would want her looking.”

“The Public Accounts Committee exists to follow the money,” said Fairclough. “$385 million in OSAP grants went to private career college students in a single year, and PC MPPs just voted against sending in the Auditor General to find out where it went.”

“While this government hides behind a private audit, thousands of college and university students who did nothing wrong are still waiting for their OSAP,” said Watt. “Taxpayers deserve to know where their money went. Students deserve to know when their funding is coming back.”

“Every new court filing makes the case for an independent audit stronger. The government now alleges that at two Academy of Learning campuses, more than half of last year’s OSAP applications came from a single IP address. Its own ministry has logged more than 220 tips, complaints, referrals and investigations about these campuses since 2024. Ontarians deserve a fair, independent audit, and today PC MPPs voted against giving them one,” said Fairclough.