Ontario alleges single IP addresses submitted thousands of OSAP applications at career colleges

TORONTO · The Ontario government alleges more than half of the thousands of student financial aid applications last year at two career college campuses came from a single internet address. Officials made the claim in new court filings that also reveal the province has received more than 200 tips about the schools, including allegations that recruiters were improperly submitting Ontario Student Assistance Program applications and completing students' coursework. The Academy of Learning, which operates the campuses, did not comment on the new filings but has previously denied wrongdoing and says it has implemented corrective actions. The three campuses at issue are part of the Academy of Learning franchise but share a parent company, Opulence Education Group. They are located on Bay Street in Toronto, in North York, and in Brampton East. The province barred them from OSAP eligibility in May, a decision the schools are challenging in court. In a final decision issued in August and added to the court record this month, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities said it is not satisfied the institutions have adequate processes for the proper administration of OSAP funding.

The ministry alleges a close look at IP address activity for the 2025-26 academic year showed concentrated patterns. At the Brampton East campus, 3,136 out of 6,001 OSAP applications, or 52 per cent, came from a single IP address, with five other addresses responsible for 100 or more applications each. At the North York campus, 3,460 out of 6,070 applications, or 57 per cent, came from one IP address, with two others linked to 255 more. The Bay Street campus had 1,736 of its 6,966 applications, or 25 per cent, from a single IP address, with five others submitting 100 or more.

“While patterns of shared IP addresses among students attending the same physical school campus space accessing their student accounts may be expected, patterns of shared IP address activity among the institution’s asynchronous learners referred to the institution by the same recruiter is significant and renders the institution’s proposed explanation unlikely in this case,” the ministry wrote in the court filing.

The Academy of Learning had argued in a letter to the ministry that shared IP addresses could be due to multiple people living at the same address. The school also wrote that "the presence of the same IP address among different users does not, by itself, establish misconduct, misrepresentation, or unauthorized activity." The ministry's filings state that since Jan. 1, 2024, it has received more than 220 tips, complaints, referrals and investigations related to the three campuses, calling the volume and consistency of concerns significant. "The ministry received related third-party complaints and tips alleging that certain recruiters were acting on behalf of students, including in submitting OSAP applications, in uploading supporting documentation on students' OSAP accounts, and in completing coursework on behalf of students, and that recruiters were using OSAP funding as a recruitment or marketing tool," the ministry wrote. The schools have said they cut ties with some recruiters. Academy of Learning did not directly respond to a request for comment on the coursework allegation but noted in a corrective action plan last year that it added enhanced IP tracking and two-factor authentication "to safeguard against third-party completion of assignments."

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The allegations come as Premier Doug Ford's government faces criticism over its handling of OSAP. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn says his government acted on tips and conducted inspections that led to barring the schools and launching a broader probe. Quinn earlier this year reduced OSAP grants for students at universities and public colleges, citing program sustainability. The Canadian Press later revealed rising costs were largely due to activity at a small number of career colleges. Provincial OSAP grants to career colleges nearly doubled between 2023-24 and 2024-25, to about $1 billion, with the three Academy of Learning campuses accounting for one-fifth of that spending. Quinn has tasked KPMG with an audit of OSAP payments to career colleges and earlier this month referred the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police, while pausing such payments to all private post-secondary institutions. It is not known if the referral contains specific allegations about the Academy of Learning. The move followed warnings from Career Colleges Ontario, the federal government, and hundreds of tips about possible OSAP misuse.

NDP critic Peggy Sattler said the new details show the minister was incompetent. "I think the more details that we learn through these court proceedings, the clearer it is that the minister was completely incompetent at doing his job," she said. "It is stunning that these five-alarm fires were being ignored by the government." Liberal critic Tyler Watt also said the revelations reflect poorly on Quinn. The ministry's allegations have not been proven in court.

With files from The Canadian Press, Narcity and CityNews