The company at the centre of a $29.5 million government lawsuit and allegations of fraud is pushing to move the case to commercial court in the hopes of speeding up the legal fight — a move the Ford government is attempting to block.
The company, Keel Digital Solutions, received millions from both the Ministry of Colleges and Universities as well as the Ministry of Labour, through its subsidiary Get A-Head, for counselling services for students on college and university campuses.
In a recent lawsuit, the province alleged the owners of Keel submitted “fraudulent” data on the services they provided and that the company was “unjustly enriched.” Keel fired back, saying the government’s argument was “deeply flawed, built on misstatements and outright inaccuracies.”
Now, weeks after being served with legal action by the government, its executives are trying to move the fight to a new arena — urging the province to accept a speedier resolution to allegations of fraud.
“Keel is ready to have the facts tested,” the company said in a statement.
“If the Province truly believes in its own allegations, and if it genuinely stands behind its repeated rhetoric about ‘Respect for Taxpayers,’ then it should have no hesitation in advancing this matter immediately in the Commercial Court, saving potentially millions in legal fees.”
In the latest twist, Keel’s executives have filed a motion to move the case to the Superior Court’s Commercial List, arguing they want to prioritize speed in order to preserve their reputation.
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In the filing, the company claimed that the province “unleashed the weight of the government,” putting both the company’s viability and the owners’ reputation at risk. It expressed concern that a resolution could be “years away.”
“The reputations of the individual defendants and the ongoing viability of the corporate defendants are being irreparably damaged in real time,” the motion by Keel Digital Solutions argued.
The company said the government’s lawsuit, launched in early January, has made its directors “toxic,” has “effectively shut down the business,” forced them to lay off at least 30 staff and could result in the “bankruptcy” of its owners.
“The only practical way to mitigate the devastating harm to the defendants is an expedited trial that dismisses the baseless and misguided allegations in the claim,” Keel said in its motion.
Moving the case to the commercial list — presided by a team of judges with experience in managing complex commercial litigation — could potentially speed up the legal battle and lead to a resolution within a year.
The government, however, has balked at the request.
In a filing of its own, lawyers for the Ministry of the Attorney General said they do not view the case as being “appropriate” for the commercial court because the central concern relates to “compliance with provincial funding agreements and fraud.”
Rather than sitting idle, the government suggested its lawyers have already moved ahead with the next stage of the ongoing legal battle by requesting Keel’s internal data on the virtual mental health counselling sessions it offered.
The data includes start and end times of sessions, participant numbers, identification numbers, and login details, all of which the government claims the company has yet to turn over.
Back in November, the Ford government sent the findings of a forensic audit into Keel Digital Solution to Ontario Provincial Police, which has since opened an investigation.
The province said that a “routine audit” of the business had raised red flags that led to the forensic probe and eventual police investigation. Keel Digital Solutions strenuously denied that claim, raising questions about how the audit had been conducted and disputing its findings.
Then, at the beginning of the year, the government announced it had filed its own lawsuit against Keel, accusing it of breaching its contract and providing false and misleading reports.
The government’s lawsuit — against which Keel has filed a counterclaim and wants to see moved into commercial court — alleged that between 2022 and 2025 the company “provided false and misleading quarterly reports of their corporate performance measures,” which resulted in the government paying out its contracts.
Keel’s counterclaim seeks damages of $98 million, including for payments the government withheld and for what they call loss of corporate value.
The company said in its defence that the government’s audit process was secretive and “deeply flawed.” It also claims that when the province announced the police referral due to what it called “inconsistencies” found through the audit, the company says that it was done with the intent to harm its reputation.
The claims from either the government or Keel Digital Solutions have not been proven in court, and no charges have been laid in the OPP’s investigation.
The motion to move the case to the Commercial List will be heard in early March.
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