OSAP changes make students re-evaluate post-secondary attendance

Nikita Mohile

Students are worried about their school finances now that the province’s newly configured Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) has taken effect.

In February, Ontario outlined a $6.4 billion investment in the post-secondary sector over the next four years, the removal of the tuition freeze, and major changes to OSAP.

The changes to OSAP are what students, especially low-income students, are most concerned about. OSAP provides income-based financial assistance to students through repayable loans and non-repayable grants. It is being changed from a maximum of 85 per cent of aid through grants to a maximum of 25 percent, and a minimum of 15 per cent through loans to a minimum of 75 per cent. As a result, many students expect to graduate with significantly more debt, if they can afford to complete their program at all.

Photo by Vitaliev Gariev

“It’s a bit worrisome,” said Jaime Meyers, a veterinary technician student at Dalhousie Agricultural Campus who graduated in June. She says having to take on more debt would impact her involvement in extracurriculars. “I wanted to do loggersports next year, but I might not even do that now because I want to have time to work,” she said.

The province has said it will support qualified low-income students by enhancing the Student Access Guarantee. In addition, it has launched financial support programs such as the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant and the First Nations Resource and Development scholarship. The Ontario Learn and Stay Grant has helped nearly 13,000 students in Practical Nursing, Paramedic and Medical Laboratory Technology / Medical Laboratory Science programs.

“I have the Learn and Stay Grant so that's not going to be affected,” Madelyn Phillips, a Port Perry resident studying nursing at Queen’s University, said. She also received a disability grant last year which is “now literally nothing” after the changes.

Students can estimate how much aid they may receive using the updated OSAP calculator online.

The cuts to OSAP come as students are facing an increasingly difficult job market post-graduation, with youth unemployment levels at 17.7 per cent. The funding investment is supposed to provide predictable support to deliver programs aligned with labour market demand. Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested students choose in-demand courses such as STEM, healthcare, and trades programs.

A trigger for these changes was the federal government’s decision to decrease international student numbers, which means post-secondary institutions are losing money, and thus creating the need to raise tuition. According to a report by Higher Education Strategy Associates from May 2025, a 40 per cent decrease in international students would cause universities’ revenues to decrease by about 11 per cent by 2028.

The Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security says its actions were also in response to pressures on the post-secondary education sector, including increased program uptake in recent years. “The OSAP framework was no longer sustainable,” said Bianca Giacoboni, press secretary for Ontario’s Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn, “With OSAP’s new framework, our government will be able to keep supporting our students’ investment [in higher education] for many years to come.”

However, some students are opting to drop out rather than take on debt.

“It is simply a burden to have that much debt above my head at the age of 22,” said Colin Humphrey, a third-year Honours Science student at the University of Waterloo.

For each student who doesn’t complete their education, the province loses about $110 000, according to a 2025 report by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation.