PDCI Students Protest Cuts to OSAP

Perth District Collegiate Students walk out of class to protest OSAP cuts.

On Thursday, March 12, 2026, students from Perth District Collegiate Institute left their classrooms and marched to Perth's Town Hall, protesting the cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

OSAP is a financial aid program that helps students pay for their post-secondary education. OSAP is distributed as grants and loans. It is available to Ontario residents of any age. The program is designed to make post-secondary education more affordable. Currently, eligible funds amount to 60 per cent of the funding. OSAP is federally and provincially funded. Premier Ford’s government has announced that the grants currently available will be cut from 85 per cent to 25 per cent. This has secondary students worried.

PDCI student Ashwen Foster is one of those concerned students. In an interview on Thursday, she said, "We are out here protesting today because Doug Ford and his government have cut OSAP funding for post-secondary students, and it’s really not okay." She further went on to say, "Cuts to OSAP could mean so much more student debt, it's really shocking. It went (the grants) from 85 per cent in grants to 25 per cent. I know personally, I am going to be in so much more debt. It’s, quite frankly, terrifying."