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The Ontario government said in a statement of claim that it wants $25.9-millon in damages from Get A-Head, its owner Keel Digital Solutions, and some executives and directors.Eduardo Lima/The Canadian Press

The Ontario government is going to court to seek millions in damages from Keel Digital Solutions, a company that received taxpayer money from the province’s Skills Development Fund. The government alleges in a lawsuit that the company engaged in “fraudulent misrepresentation.”

The office of Premier Doug Ford announced Friday morning that it had filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court against Get A-Head, which runs a virtual peer-counselling service, and its owner, Keel Digital Solutions, as well as some of the company’s executives and directors.

The allegations have not been proven in court, and the company has previously denied any wrongdoing.

The claim says the province wants a total of $25.9-millon in damages for alleged breaches of contracts with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security and the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The total also includes a demand for punitive damages of $100,000 against five company executives or directors, among them Keel president and CEO Rob Godfrey and chief operating officer Jay Fischbach.

Mr. Fischbach said in an e-mail Friday morning that the company was working on a response to the allegations.

OPP confirms review of reported ‘suspicious activity’ tied to company that received millions from Ontario

Keel has been at the centre of the political storm around the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund. An Auditor-General’s report last fall criticized the fund, which distributes money to employers, unions and other organizations for programs to train workers, saying the office of Labour Minister David Piccini had ignored recommendations from bureaucrats and given hundreds of millions of dollars to less qualified recipients.

The office of Integrity Commissioner Cathryn Motherwell confirmed last month that Mr. Piccini will face an ethics investigation prompted by opposition complaints about his handling of the fund.

In Keel’s case, the Ontario government said last fall that a forensic audit uncovered “suspicious activity” and forwarded the matter to the Ontario Provincial Police, which later said it had launched an investigation.

Keel, which operates an artificial intelligence-driven online counselling platform for students and police officers, was providing services under a contract with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities when it also received $7.5-million in grants from the Skills Development Fund. It was still receiving money as recently as October, even though it was facing a forensic audit.

Mr. Fischbach told The Globe and Mail in November that he was never informed of any “red flags” during the audit process and that the company complied with all laws and contractual obligations. Keel has argued it was being turned into a scapegoat for the controversy surrounding the Skills Development Fund.

The company’s links to Mr. Piccini have come under scrutiny. Last fall, he attended the Paris wedding of Keel’s lobbyist.

And in 2023, before he became minister, he was seen rinkside at a Toronto Maple Leafs game with a director of the company. Mr. Piccini has said he paid his own way for both the game and the wedding.