Doug Ford defends decision to cut post-secondary student grants

TORONTO – Ontario Premier Doug Ford defended his government’s decision to cut back on the amount of financial assistance for post-secondary students after he said thousands reached out to him over the Family Day weekend to voice their concerns.

Starting this fall, the Ontario Student Assistance Program will lean more heavily on loans as opposed to grants, which are not repaid and are given out on a needs basis.

Last week, the provincial government announced it would give colleges and universities a funding boost of $6.4 billion over four years and lift a seven-year tuition freeze.

As part of that announcement, Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said the makeup of the assistance program would change. The current proportion is about 85 per cent grants to 15 per cent loans, which will change this fall when students will receive a maximum of 25 per cent of OSAP funding as grants.

The loans remain interest free until six months after graduation, when repayments begin.

Ford said the current OSAP situation was “not sustainable”

“I’m always saying we have the brightest and best students and best colleges and universities in the world, but when you’re in the hole $2.5 billion it wasn’t realistic,” he said Tuesday.

He added he was under “massive pressure” from the heads of universities to reverse course on the province’s tuition freeze.

“I want to remind a lot of the students that I fought for them for seven-and-a-half years, not letting universities and colleges raise tuition,” Ford said.

Ontario is now allowing colleges and universities to raise fees by up to two per cent per year for the next three years. After that tuition increases will be capped at two per cent or the inflation rate, whichever is lower.

Students have widely condemned the province’s moves, saying they will be left with more debt while many others will be simply driven out of post-secondary education because it is unaffordable.

There is talk among several student unions across the province to stage a day of action at Queen’s Park. 

The problems with the post-secondary sector are partially the provincial government’s own making. Ford cut tuition 10 per cent across the board in 2019 and froze it there. But he did not freeze tuition for international students, who are charged significantly higher sums.

When the federal Liberal government under Justin Trudeau increased immigration and international student levels after the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges took advantage of that combination as a way to make up the money lost by Ford’s tuition freeze for domestic students.

But Trudeau eventually slashed international student permits, which hit the sector hard, particularly colleges.

Ontario colleges have already cut $1.4 billion in costs, suspended more than 600 programs and eliminated more than 8,000 staff positions in a bid to save money.

Both colleges and universities have welcomed the financial relief.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.