COVID-19 Student Relief

COVID-19 Assistance for STUDENTS

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced $9 billion in assistance for young Canadians, focusing on students. The introduction of the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) will provide $1,250 a month for eligible students from May to August, which is increased to $1,750 if that student is taking care of someone else or has a disability. The initial details noted that to be eligible for CESB, you had to be:

A current college or university student;
An individual who is planning to start college or university in September; or
An individual who graduated from college or university in December 2019

If a student has a summer job, they can only apply for CESB if they are making less than $1,000 per month, which is the same threshold for individuals applying for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). It should be noted that the CERB is a larger benefit, so a student should apply for CERB instead if they qualify for it.

In addition to the CESB, the Government of Canada will be taking the following additional steps to help young Canadians:

Extending scholarships, grants, and fellowships for three to four months
Introducing the Canada Student Service Grant of $1,000 to $5,000 for students who are volunteering in the COVID-19 fight
Doubling the student grants that are given out for the 2020-2021 school year
Looking into ways to create student jobs in sectors affected by COVID-19
Providing additional support to First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation students
Providing a subsidy of up to 10% of the provincial/territorial hourly minimum wage to employers who hire summer students

The government had previously suspended federal student loan repayments and interest charges until September 30, 2020.

Note that the daily briefing by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau often includes measures that have not been through proper parliamentary procedure. Details of these announcements come out later once through parliament.

[As the government introduces new relief measures and modifies previously introduced measures, they update their COVID-19 Economic Response Plan website. This site is an excellent resource for all who have questions: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html ]

All the best to you and stay safe!

The Team,

Colin, Tyler, Humberto, and Sharon