Ontario Premier Doug Ford's office says the government is reviewing all payments made to online counselling platform Get A-Head.Laura Proctor/The Canadian Press
The Ontario Provincial Police’s anti-rackets branch is looking into a company that has received more than $40-million from the provincial government, in order to determine whether to launch a criminal investigation.
The force confirmed on Friday that the government had referred “suspicious activity” related to transfer payments to the company, an online counselling platform called Get A-Head.
Gosia Puzio, a spokesperson for the OPP, said the force was contacted on Nov. 6 by the Treasury Board Secretariat’s forensic investigations team, which was concerned about transfer payments to Get A-Head from the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security.
“The matter has been assigned to the OPP Anti-Rackets Branch for assessment, to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted,” Ms. Puzio said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.
“As the assessment is still in its early stages, we are unable to provide further comment or details at this time.”
Groups that got cash from Ontario training fund increasingly hired lobbyists, numbers show
The business offers an “AI-driven” virtual mental-health counselling platform for students and police officers. It was acquired by a company called Keel Digital Solutions in 2022.
Keel has also received millions from the province’s marquee Skills Development Fund, which is overseen by Labour Minister David Piccini. His connections to the company have come under scrutiny.
The provincial government confirmed to news media this week that it had sent results of a forensic audit of Keel to the OPP.
In a statement sent to media outlets on Friday night, Ahad Bandealy, Keel Digital Solutions’ chief digital officer, said the company has “serious concerns” about the competency and accuracy of the ministry’s audit process. He said the government has not provided the company with the official audit findings but that “junior auditors assigned to the file lacked a fundamental understanding of corporate structures, tax law, and health-privacy legislation.”
Mr. Bandealy accused the government of “creating the appearance of impropriety” within a Ministry of Colleges and Universities program and “improperly linking it to the Skills Development Fund.”
“This approach allows officials to avoid answering legitimate questions under the false pretense that criminal conduct is involved,” he said.
He said Keel welcomes any investigation by the OPP, and said it is unfortunate the company has become part of “scapegoat politics.”
Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford’s office said the government sent the OPP results from a recent comprehensive forensic audit scrutinizing the company. That analysis was prompted after a routine audit in 2023 raised concern with an “external service provider” and “identified irregularities.”
That second audit recommended sending the results to the provincial police, something Premier’s Office spokeswoman Hannah Jensen said was done within 24 hours.
The Premier’s Office also said the government is reviewing all payments made to the company and could take further action.
Mr. Ford’s chief of staff, Patrick Sackville, sent an e-mail this week to all Ontario government chiefs of staff and other employees working in the Premier’s Office warning them not to have any contact with the company.
Ms. Jensen declined to comment further on Friday.
According to government records, Get A-Head received $32.74-million in funding from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities from 2020 to 2025, as well as $1.85-million from the Ministry of Health. It also was awarded $7.5-million in grants approved by Mr. Piccini’s office from the Skills Development Fund, starting with $2.72-million in 2024.
An initial audit conducted in 2023 would have been related to previous funding from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Get A-Head had only successfully applied for skills funding between August and December of 2023.
The $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund, which hands out cash to unions, companies and non-profits for training programs, has been under a microscope after Ontario Auditor-General Shelley Spence concluded in a report last month that the distribution of $1.3-billion in grants from it was “not fair, transparent or accountable.” Opposition MPPs have called for Mr. Piccini to be fired.
The minister has vigorously defended his ability to select applicants, saying it is needed in order to ensure government priorities are met.
Mr. Piccini’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Keel’s links to Mr. Piccini, which have also been reported by Queen’s Park news website The Trillium, have been part of the political storm.
A lobbyist for Get A-Head and Keel, Michael Rudderham, invited Mr. Piccini to attend his wedding in Paris, France, this fall. He has also donated thousands to the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
Mr. Rudderham said in a text message to The Globe on Thursday that he did work for the company but was “not involved with the MCU stuff. Not even a little bit. Yesterday shocked me.” In 2022, he was registered to lobby the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, among other ministries, for Get A-Head, but he said he was not involved in the contract or what was audited. On Friday, he declined comment.
In 2023, Mr. Piccini, who was not then Labour Minister, sat in a rinkside seat at a Toronto Maple Leafs game with Peter Zakarow, a director of Keel, The Trillium reported. Mr. Zakarow said in an e-mail to The Globe this week that he was an independent board member and has never spoken to the minister or anyone else in the government about the company.
Mr. Piccini has said he paid his own way for both the game and the wedding.