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Starting this September, changes made to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) became a financial reality for the province’s post-secondary students. Some students receiving OSAP say the shift is already affecting how they manage their finances and think about their futures.
“I was expecting to get more from my grants so I can put it towards my tuition, but now, because of that, I’m going to… have to work another job as well,” said Mahtab Kahlol, a first-year computer science student at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
“For a lot of students, the first time they realize anything changed is when they got funding in their bank account, and it was a lot less than the previous year,” says Zach Prusko, founder of Hi Finance, a platform that (according to its website) helps post-secondary students navigate their finances and find grant funding.
Last February, Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn announced that OSAP would shift toward loans rather than grants. In practice, that means students can receive grants covering a maximum of 25 per cent of their total financial aid amount. Under the previous rules, students could get as much as 85 per cent of their financial aid in grants.
Although students, education advocates, and activists opposed the decision by organizing a series of protests at Queen’s Park, the government still implemented the new rules.
For Kahlol, taking on this extra responsibility has put him in a “more stressful position than before,” having to simultaneously balance work with the demands of his degree.
For students with marginalized backgrounds, the financial barriers surrounding higher education can begin before graduation. T. Edward, a fourth-year journalism undergraduate at TMU, is one of those students.
“I think it makes it really difficult to consider pursuing post-secondary education, especially as someone that comes from a marginalized background. Not a lot of people in my family typically go to university, so I was already kind of facing some barriers about it. I think unfortunately, the new changes are just adding an extra barrier, which can be frustrating,” they said.
Edward said graduating with more student debt has caused them to rethink what they want to do after university, particularly as they prepare to enter a creative industry where they feel employment may be less secure.
Higher education becomes more like “an entrepreneurial venture where post-graduation cash generation becomes a serious consideration,” according to Sergiy Rakhmayil, an associate professor of finance at TMU, pointing out that loans change how students evaluate their education.
He also pointed out that loans could be problematic for students without prior borrowing experience, and heavy debt can distract students during studies or pressure job seekers into accepting lower salary offers just to meet immediate bills.
Having to navigate those financial decisions, however, can be a challenge of its own, according to Prusko.
“It’s just very difficult for somebody to even talk to a financial advisor or financial planner if you’re a student, because if you have no wealth, you can’t pay anybody or make anybody money.” Prusko and his team hosted a booth on Sept. 8 during the orientation week at TMU. He said questions about the changes to OSAP were the most common concern among students.
Last February at a press conference at Queen’s Park, Doug Ford said “we have the best and the brightest students,” but that some financial responsibility has to fall on students who are “picking basket-weaving courses,” while other students exploit or misuse the system. He said that he had heard “nightmare stories” of students purchasing fancy watches and cologne from their financial aid.
“That’s completely bogus,” Ricardo Tranjan, Ontario Research Director and Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said in an interview in response to Ford’s statement. Tranjan said that Ontario has tuition fees that are among the highest in the country (in point of fact, according to Statistics Canada data from this month, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia still have the highest undergraduate fees in the country, even with the tuition freeze being lifted in Ontario, which sits at fourth highest). He said people pursue post-secondary training to acquire the skills and certifications necessary to contribute to the economy and society and secure a good life for themselves and for their families.
“The policy alternative is easy,” Tranjan said. “We fund post-secondary education mostly through the tax base, not through high tuition.”
Tranjan warned about the consequences of relying on OSAP loans. He said that Ontario doesn’t throw the burden on individuals and then expects them to sacrifice, because if they don’t, “We’re just going to have labour force shortages,” he said. “We’re not going to have the kind of skills we need, or the kind of workers in the kinds of places we want.”
Peggy Sattler, the NDP shadow minister of education, said in an interview that OSAP grants should immediately go back to 85 per cent. “Any student who requires financial assistance in order to attend college or university should get it,” she said. “That is the government’s job.”
Savara Khokhar, a communications advisor at TMU, said that the university doesn’t have publicly available data showing how many applicants discontinued their applications after the OSAP changes.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.
Julia Pen is a fourth-year journalism student and storyteller for, On The Record, fall 2026.
