Three Ontario career college locations whose students received more than $219 million in OSAP grants in 2024–25 are challenging a provincial funding cutoff after inspectors raised concerns about student identities, attendance and coursework allegedly completed by third parties.

According to The Canadian Press, approximately 14,800 students at the three Academy of Learning franchise locations received those grants. Students at all Ontario publicly funded colleges received about $385 million during the same period.

Students at just three Academy of Learning locations received grants equivalent to nearly 57% of the amount awarded across Ontario’s entire public college system.”

Court filings detail provincial inspection findings at Academy of Learning’s Bay Street, Brampton East and North York locations, including exams completed in minutes and students unable to identify their school or program.

At Brampton, inspectors reported that one student completed every quiz and a final exam for a business writing course on the same day. The final exam took six minutes. Another student reportedly viewed all course modules and completed every quiz in less than 15 minutes.

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At North York, one student’s credentials were used to access an account from at least 211 IP addresses.

Inspectors examining 42 student files at the Bay Street location found 39 involved IP addresses also used to access other students’ accounts. Those students shared the same recruiter.

The province alleged the findings suggested possible shared credentials, unauthorized access or coordinated activity, while acknowledging shared networks could explain some overlap.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn notified five career colleges on May 1 that their OSAP eligibility would end August 1. The three Academy locations are seeking judicial review, arguing his decision was unreasonable and exceeded his authority.

The allegations have not been proven in court, and the schools deny most of them.

Academy of Learning says changing IP addresses does not establish misconduct and that students may study downloaded materials offline before completing assessments. It also disputes concerns about loan defaults.

The schools say they have strengthened identity checks, introduced two-factor authentication and increased monitoring of unusual logins and academic progress.

Career Colleges Ontario separately warned the province that financial-aid application activity appeared to shift to other institutions after scrutiny intensified, rather than declining.