The Prime Minister announced a significant $9 billion support package to help post-secondary students with the impacts of COVID-19. This includes summer income support and enhanced financial aid to assist with the cost of post-secondary education this fall. Here are the details:
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The Prime Minister announced summer income support for students with a new Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB). Canadian students who are currently enrolled or graduating from post-secondary education will get $1250/month from May to August. Students providing care to another person or who have a disability are eligible for up to $1750/month. This recognizes that many students did not earn the $5000 required over the past calendar year to qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, at the same time as many employers are struggling to offer summer jobs to students. Payments for the CESB will be made through the Canada Revenue Agency and will require the passage of new legislation. The government said payments will be retroactive to May 1st, so they anticipate that it may take some time to implement.
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The government is creating 76,000 summer jobs for young people to assist in “critical sectors” of the Canadian economy. This is in addition to the Canada Summer Jobs Program. In total, the federal government expects to create up to 116,000 jobs, placements and training opportunities this summer. The PM indicated that jobs would be created to help with contact tracing, agriculture and other sectors, with more details to be provided in the coming days.
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A new Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) is targeted at young people who volunteer with organizations dealing with the COVID response. For students who choose to do national or community service, the CSSG will provide between $1,000 and $5,000 for education in the fall.
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The PM also announced the doubling of Canada Student Grants to $6,000 for full time students and $3,600 for part-time students for the 2020/21 school year. The federal government is also increasing the maximum amount in the Canada Student Loans Program from $210 to $350 a week, and broadening eligibility for student financial assistance by removing the expected student’s and spouse’s contributions in 2020-21, as many students and families will struggle to save for school this year. This is a significant boost to student aid that takes some burden off students to earn the full cost of their education this summer, while also easing the pressure on post-secondary institutions to cut tuition if they are required to continue delivering education online this fall. Additional compensation will be provided to the governments of Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut who operate their own student financial aid programs.
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The government is providing $291 million to the federal granting councils to extend expiring federal scholarships, fellowships and grants by 3-4 months.
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For First Nations, Inuit and Métis students, an additional $75.2 million in distinctions based funding will be made available for the 2020/2021 school year.
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Our federal team is standing by to answer your questions:
Sheamus Murphy
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Bridget Howe
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Ben Parsons
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