Is Conestoga College closing down?

No. The college is still operating, classes are still running, and credentials still count. What changed is the leadership. The Ontario government dismissed the entire board of governors on May 7, 2026 and appointed Linda Franklin (former president and CEO of Colleges Ontario for 15+ years) as administrator. She runs the place until the province decides what comes next. So far there's no signal of closure.

Will my OSAP still cover my Conestoga tuition?

Yes. OSAP is administered by the Ontario government's Ministry of Colleges and Universities, not by Conestoga. Your OSAP assessment, disbursements, and reassessments work the same way they did last week. The same is true for Canada Student Grants and Canada Student Loans on the federal side. The takeover doesn't touch any of that.

I just got accepted to Conestoga for fall 2026. Should I still go?

Honestly, this depends on the program. Trades, nursing, and skilled programs where the credential is industry-recognized and not provider-specific are mostly unaffected. The college's accreditation hasn't changed. But if you were leaning on a specific signature program or partnership that depended on the prior administration, watch for announcements over the next few weeks. The 500+ layoffs include some administrative roles that may affect student services.

Are my Conestoga scholarships still being paid?

Internal Conestoga awards (the ones administered by the college itself) might face delays during the leadership transition. External scholarships (Indspire, Schulich Builders, RBC Future Launch, provincial bursaries) are completely unaffected because they're administered by their providers, not the college. If you've been awarded an external scholarship that disburses through Conestoga, contact the provider directly to ask about an alternative payment route during the transition.

Should I transfer to a different college?

For most students mid-program, no. The credential you're earning at Conestoga is still valid, the program structure hasn't changed, and a mid-program transfer usually costs you credits + time + money. The exception: if the layoffs have gutted your specific program's faculty or you can see your department's been impacted directly, talk to your program coordinator before deciding. For prospective students still picking a school, the answer depends on whether you have equivalent alternatives at Mohawk, Sheridan, Centennial, George Brown, or Fanshawe.

Where can I find off-Conestoga scholarships I'm eligible for?

Most Canadian scholarships are open to students at any accredited college or university, including Conestoga. Browse our directory by program type, by province, or by audience. The trades-focused awards (Schulich Builders, Skills Canada bursaries, provincial apprenticeship grants) are particularly relevant if you're in one of Conestoga's trades programs. The link is at the bottom of this article.

Conestoga Just Got Taken Over. Your Aid Could Be Next.

On May 7, 2026, Ontario did something that's never happened in the province before. They fired an entire community college board of governors and put a single appointed administrator in charge. The college in question is Conestoga, in Kitchener-Waterloo, one of the biggest in Ontario, with international student enrolment that ballooned past 40,000 a couple of years ago before crashing back to about 15,000 this winter.

The audit that triggered all of this is honestly the kind of thing you read twice to make sure it's real. The former president, John Tibbits, got a 55% salary increase in 2024 that pushed his pay to $636,000 a year. His severance came out at 83 times his monthly salary, well over three times the legal cap under Ontario's Broader Public Sector Executive Compensation Act. Three senior leaders went on a $23,000 trip to Italy with business-class airfare and luxury hotels paid out of the college's funds.

The Ford government's reaction was swift. Minister Nolan Quinn announced May 7 that the entire board was being dismissed and Linda Franklin, former president and CEO of Colleges Ontario for over 15 years, would take over as administrator effective immediately. Then came the layoffs: more than 500 employees gone, in one of the largest single workforce reductions in the history of Ontario's college sector.

If you're a current Conestoga student reading this, here's the part nobody is telling you on social media: your tuition supports are still in play, but a few of them just got more fragile. Your job this week is to figure out which ones, and to lock in alternatives before the transition gets messier.

TL;DR: what to check this week

Your OSAP, Canada Student Grant, and Canada Student Loan: all unaffected. Provincial and federal aid is administered outside Conestoga.
Internal Conestoga awards and program-specific bursaries: contact the financial aid office and confirm disbursement dates haven't shifted.
External scholarships disbursing through Conestoga: contact the provider (Indspire, RBC, etc.) to ask whether they can pay you directly during the transition.
Your program's specific faculty and staff: check whether the layoffs touched your department. If yes, talk to your program coordinator.
Off-Conestoga scholarship eligibility: most national and provincial scholarships are open to you. Pull a list of 8-10 you qualify for as a backup.

What actually changed (and what didn't)

Your credential is still valid

Conestoga's accreditation hasn't moved. The Ministry of Colleges and Universities continues to recognize the institution. Any program you're enrolled in still counts toward your diploma, degree, or trade certification, and the Red Seal trades programs continue to operate normally. Employers don't care about the board crisis. They care that you completed the program.

Your OSAP is safe

This is the most common question we've seen in the last 24 hours and the answer is reassuring. OSAP is run by the province, not by Conestoga. The administrator change at the college has zero effect on your OSAP assessment, disbursement schedule, or reassessment process. Same goes for Canada Student Grants and Canada Student Loans on the federal side. Nothing on those files changes because of the takeover.

What COULD shift

Internal college-administered awards may face short delays during the leadership transition. Things like the President's Scholarship, Conestoga-specific entry awards, and college-administered emergency bursaries run through the finance team that just got reorganized. If you're counting on one of these for a specific term, contact the financial aid office this week and get the disbursement timeline in writing.

Some external scholarships also flow through Conestoga as an intermediary. The provider gives the money to the college, and the college passes it to you. If your award works this way, you have leverage. Contact the provider (Indspire, RBC Future Launch, Schulich Builders, whoever it is) and ask if they can disburse to you directly during the transition. Most providers will say yes when there's a documented institutional disruption.

What COULD be a real problem

The 500+ layoff number is the biggest unknown. We don't yet have the full list of which roles were cut, which programs lost faculty, or which student services were reduced. Watch for an official announcement from Conestoga over the next two weeks, and pay attention to anything specific to your program. If your department coordinator or a key instructor was let go, that's something you need to factor into your fall planning, not just shrug at.

If you're a prospective Conestoga student deciding right now

Honestly, this is the trickiest situation. You haven't started, you have other offers, and you're trying to make a decision in the middle of a crisis. Here's a framework that holds up:

Stay with Conestoga if: The program you're admitted to is trades, nursing, or skilled trades. These programs are tightly tied to industry credentials that don't depend on internal college leadership, and current federal and provincial apprenticeship grants flow through industry programs rather than through Conestoga.

Reconsider Conestoga if: Your acceptance hinged on a specific signature program, a marquee partnership, or a specific instructor who may have been part of the layoffs. In that case, check whether Mohawk, Sheridan, Centennial, George Brown, or Fanshawe offers an equivalent program and re-evaluate.

Definitely transfer your application if: You haven't yet paid a non-refundable deposit and the program you wanted is identical at another Ontario college that hasn't been put under provincial administration. The downside risk of staying is bigger than the upside.

How to find scholarships you can use outside Conestoga

Most Canadian scholarships don't care which Ontario college you're at. The eligibility is usually written as "enrolled at any accredited Canadian post-secondary institution," and Conestoga still meets that bar.

If you're in trades, your strongest stack right now is the new federal apprenticeship program announced this spring, plus Skills Canada bursaries, plus your province's apprentice loans or grants. Several sources of money that have nothing to do with Conestoga's internal finances.

If you're in nursing, healthcare, or PSW programs, the Canadian Nurses Foundation administers awards open to students at any accredited Canadian institution, and provincial nursing bursaries (Better Jobs Ontario, BC's Healthcare Education Bursary, Alberta's Health Workforce Bursary) are still flowing.

If you're Indigenous, Indspire's Building Brighter Futures bursary program is open three times a year (next deadline August 1) and has nothing to do with Conestoga.

To pull a personalized list, take the 2-minute eligibility quiz. It scores you against the live catalogue and shows what you're eligible for as a Conestoga student, without anything that depends on the college's internal admin process. Or browse the catalogue by college type if you'd rather scan manually.

Why we're writing about this

When a provincial government takes over a major college, the news cycle focuses on the scandal: the $636K salary, the Italy trip, the layoffs. That part of the story is real and it deserves the coverage. But there are 15,000 current Conestoga students who weren't part of any of it, and over the next month they're going to be looking for clear answers about whether their funding is in danger.

FundMyCourse exists to be that clear answer. We're a discovery platform for Canadian education funding, and we list opportunities from every legitimate provider in Canada. Conestoga is one of dozens of institutions whose students show up in our matching results. The funding is administered by the providers (governments, foundations, corporations, individuals), not by the colleges. So most of what you're eligible for at Conestoga, you remain eligible for during and after this transition.

We're not going to tell you to transfer schools, drop out, or panic. None of those reactions is warranted yet. We're going to tell you to verify your funding lines this week, build a backup list of awards you can apply to before fall, and watch the official Conestoga communications for specifics on which roles and services were affected.

Sources we used

Last updated 2026-05-12. We will update this article as the administrator publishes the formal restructuring plan and the full layoff breakdown.