Ontario OSAP pause forces Trillium College to halt classes

TORONTO – Trillium College, a career college with five campuses in Ontario, suspended classroom and online instruction on Friday after the province paused student aid payments to all private post-secondary schools, The Canadian Press reported.

Updated Oct. 17, 2026. This story is developing.

The college, which has campuses in St. Catharines, Kingston, Oshawa, Sudbury and Cobourg, told students of the suspension in a notice obtained and confirmed by The Canadian Press. The notice followed a province-wide pause on Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) payments that Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn announced earlier in October while an audit is under way.

Trillium said it is offering interest-free payment arrangements. Many students have said they cannot make those payments without OSAP funding, and some have asked for more time to assess their finances and consider other options. The college said the pause gives it room to restructure schedules, staffing, payment arrangements and its return-to-class plan.

Bianca Giacoboni, a spokesperson for Quinn’s office, said the government is exploring alternatives, including low-interest, third-party loans through financial institutions. No timeline has been given. She said the pause responds to evidence of systemic issues in the OSAP system and is meant to protect taxpayer dollars and hold bad actors accountable.

The pause applies to career colleges, private universities, chiropractic and naturopathic medicine colleges, and performing arts schools such as Canada’s National Ballet School. Schools and students have criticized the blanket approach and argued that any consequences should target suspected bad actors instead.

Freedom-of-information data obtained by The Canadian Press show OSAP use at some schools rose by several hundred per cent over three years, and by more than 1,000 per cent in some cases. Trillium’s OSAP use across its campuses rose 64 per cent between 2021-22 and 2024-25, a period that included the addition of a new campus. That is comparatively low.

Quinn denied OSAP eligibility to six colleges earlier this year. Trillium was not among them, and Quinn has not named any colleges under suspicion. Career Colleges Ontario, the sector group, had repeatedly warned the government about suspicious OSAP use at a few colleges.

The rise in use at some schools appears to have started after the province expanded OSAP eligibility to online and asynchronous programs, a change first made during the COVID-19 pandemic and later made permanent. Quinn has said many of the most serious concerns involve online-only programs, and he plans to introduce legislation this fall to make those programs ineligible for OSAP again.

The pause comes after changes to the program earlier this year. Our earlier report looked at how Ontario’s new OSAP rules cut grants and add interest for students.

It was not immediately clear how long Trillium’s classes will remain suspended or how many students are affected.

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Via The Canadian Press, as published by Global News. CBC News has also reported on the pause and its effects.