Maya Tilley had planned her year around starting a new college program.
Instead, when she arrived at Marca College in Hamilton for orientation, she and about a dozen other students were sent home because their Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding had not been released by the provincial government.
“I really set up my year around this program and around graduating at the time that I’d like to,” said Tilley, a Hamilton student entering her third year of post-secondary education after graduating from Niagara College.
Now, she does not know when she will be able to return to class.
“I’ve used it two years in the past, I’ve had no issues with it,” Tilley told CBC News. “However, this year when I applied for OSAP I knew I wasn’t going to get any grants.”
Tilley said she is from a single-parent household and relied heavily on grants and loans to pay for her education.
She expected her OSAP funding this year to cover the roughly $17,000 cost of tuition and supplies for the one-year program at the private college.
“I can’t afford to pay that tuition without it,” she said. “I don’t have that much extra just, you know, lying around to pay for it.”
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On the first day of orientation on Monday, students using OSAP were kept in class while those paying their own tuition were taken on a tour, Tilley said.
“They let us know that they weren’t sure when or if our OSAP was going to come in and they haven’t received much information,” she said.
Students who could not pay were unable to begin their programs.
“So there’s about a dozen of us who left,” Tilley said. “And none of us are sure when we can return [or] if we can return.”
In an email sent late Friday, Marca College confirmed that “OSAP program approvals for the 2026–2027 academic year are currently awaiting renewal by the provincial government.”
The email said “Marca College met with all affected students and shared the information we received from the Ministry. We also discussed alternative payment options with students who wished to begin their programs sooner. Students were advised that we would contact them as soon as we received further information from the Ministry.”
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The uncertainty has been particularly frustrating because Tilley said she repeatedly contacted both OSAP and her school’s financial aid office before classes began.
“Every time I’m just told to speak to my school’s financial aid,” she said. “And then when I speak to the financial aid, they let us know that they really have no information from the OSAP offices.”
Tilley said she normally receives notification about her funding being released in mid-to-late August. This year, the delay made her increasingly nervous, but she said she continued to believe the money would eventually arrive.
“It didn’t seem like I wasn’t going to receive my funding until yesterday when they sent us home,” she said. “It seemed like it just might be delayed.”
The college has offered payment plans and other options, she said, but those measures do not solve the problem.
“Even with the payment plan, I would still need my OSAP,” Tilley said.
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The deposit alone, she added, is roughly equivalent to a semester’s tuition at a public college.
“It’s just not something that I think most people who are using OSAP can afford,” she said.
“OSAP has been like very helpful for me the past two years when I’ve used it,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford my education without it.”
The uncertainty now threatens to disrupt more than the start of her school year.
“If it does come in late, you know, obviously I don’t want to have to graduate late,” she said. “But I’d also like to know how late I would have to graduate to be able to make it through this program.”
Tilley said the lack of information has been almost as difficult as the delay itself.
“If they let us know whether it was going to be released or not or when or gave some sort of information or anything like that,” she said, “because there’s no information available at all.”
CBC News reached out to Ontario’s Colleges and Universities on Tuesday. They promised a statement but it had not arrived by time of publication.
In a Tuesday statement, Ontario NDP MPP Peggy Sattler, the party’s shadow minister for colleges, universities, research excellence and security, said students across Ontario were still waiting for funding even though classes had begun.
“Students did everything they were supposed to do, but they’re now being forced to deal with the consequences of the Ford government’s failure to deliver their funding on time,” Sattler said.
She said students are struggling with expenses including textbooks, lab kits, technology, groceries and gas while waiting for their funding.
“Some students have even been unable to purchase materials required for their classes, putting their academic success at risk through no fault of their own,” Sattler said.
Sattler also criticized what she described as previous reductions to OSAP that have required students to take on more debt.
“Students should not have to suffer because this government can’t get its own systems in order,” she said. “The Ford government must immediately release the OSAP funding students are waiting for and fix these administrative failures, so this never happens again.”
Tilley just wants to know when she can get back into the classroom.
“I really set up my year around this program,” she said.
