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The number of people misrepresenting themselves to get student grants and loans in Ontario has risen dramatically in recent years, though it continues to be a fraction of the funds handed out by the government.
New documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws show the total value of ineligible student finance payments in Ontario increased by more than 800 per cent.
Back in 2020, the government investigated 173 Ontario Student Assistance Program issues, concluding $887,553 had been issued that shouldn’t have been.
The figure shot up drastically to 909 investigations in 2025 for $11.6 million. Once those investigations concluded, they found $8.3 million had been issued to people who were ineligible.
Those broadly cover misrepresentations rather than fraud, which would involve a criminal investigation. Misrepresentations can be deliberate — which would require immediate repayment — or mistaken, in which case the government would seek repayments over a longer period.
Ineligible OSAP funding issued:
- 2020: $887,553
- 2021: $700,070
- 2022: $606,550
- 2023: $2,220,992
- 2024: $4,719,310
- 2025: $8,332,363
The government said no fraud had been referred to the police in the past two years.
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“We have a robust framework in place to protect OSAP from fraudulent use, and we are implementing new technology and exploring other avenues to strengthen the program’s integrity,” a spokesperson for Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security Nolan Quinn wrote in a statement.
“Higher education is an investment students make in themselves, their community, and their future. With OSAP’s new framework, our government will be able to keep supporting our students’ investment for many years to come.”
While the cases of OSAP misrepresentation are relatively high, they’re a fraction of the total student loans issued, a figure approaching $2 billion.
“I think when you look at like one per cent and the fact there weren’t even any charges, it is actually a very small number,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said.
“I think the government has used it as an excuse to deny so many students the opportunity to have support for post-secondary education.”
Earlier this year, the Ford government introduced an overhaul to student finance — moving the emphasis from grants to loans, saying the existing system was unsustainable.
As part of a major reform for the sector — which also included billions in new funding and a tuition increase — the premier lamented anecdotal examples of students making flashy purchases.
The premier told reporters in February he had “heard some nightmare stories” about students who were “going out there buying fancy watches and cologne and not needing it.”
He later doubled down on the comments, telling reporters it is “not a God-given right to take taxpayers’ money. It’s a God-given right to get your college degree and university.”
The examples the premier repeatedly cited in February, however, aren’t actually fraud.
The government clarified they wouldn’t be captured in figures for OSAP misrepresentation, fraud or ineligible payments because, as long as students are eligible and make their payments, there aren’t rules stopping them from buying nice clothes or expensive watches.
Ontario Liberal MPP Tyler Watt said it was hypocritical for Ford, who recently bought and returned a private jet, to comment on how students spend their money.
“The hypocrisy is unbelievable,” he said in a statement.
“This is the same premier who cried about students allegedly buying cologne while spending $29 million of taxpayer money on a luxury jet.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
