April 22 – The federal Government announced new financial aid to students – they can now claim a new Canada Emergency Student Benefit (“CESB”).
Under the CESB, eligible post-secondary students could receive $1,250 monthly from May to August. If that student is also taking care of someone else or has a disability, that amount increases to $1,750 monthly.
College and university students currently in school, planning to start in September, or who graduated in December 2019 are eligible.
In addition, working students earning less than $1,000 per month can also apply.
The new benefit will require legislation, but the federal Government promised to promptly roll this out.
In addition to the CESB, the federal Government also announced more financial assistance to young people:
- creating an additional 76,000 jobs for young people in certain sectors, or that are on the frontlines of this pandemic;
- investing more than $291 million to extend scholarships, fellowships, and grants for three or four months;
- launching a new Canada Student Service Grant of between $1,000 and $5,000 for students volunteering in the COVID-19 fight; and
- doubling the student grants that the government gives out for the 2020-21 school year.
This new benefit is intended to address the ‘gap’ for students who did not qualify for the CERB, due to the condition that they must have reported $5,000 in income in the past twelve months.
Earlier, the federal government announced temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program to help students find work in a largely locked-down country once their summer begins.
Now, employers who hire summer students can apply for a subsidy of up to 100 per cent of the Ontario minimum wage. This is for the age range of 15 to 30.
For many students and employers in the City of Kawartha Lakes, this raises new questions. For example, financially is a student better off volunteering to receive a service grant, or having a job that’s fully or partly-funded under the revised Canada Summer Jobs program, or even the 75% wage subsidy if an employer qualifies and is applying for that next week? Get out a calculator – there is math that needs to be done.
