Support measures for students during the COVID-19 pandemic

français

Support measures for students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Apr 13, 2021 by System

The federal government recently announced measures to support students financially during the COVID-19 pandemic. What are they? Let’s find out.

UFile Blog - Support measures for students

Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)

This benefit will be paid to post-secondary students (current or who register for the fall session) and recent graduates (December 2019) who are not eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

The benefit paid will be $1,250 per month for eligible students or $1,750 per month for eligible students with dependants or disabilities.

As with the CERB, eligible students can claim the CESB as long as they don’t earn more than $1,000 per month.

The benefit will be available from May to August 2020 and will be paid by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG)

The grant will be paid to eligible students who gain work experience and skills while they help their communities during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

For eligible students who choose to do national service and serve their communities, the CSSG will provide between $1,000 and $5,000 for their education in the fall session.

Student grants and other financial assistance programs

The government also announced changes to existing programs.

Canada student grants for eligible students will double to up to $6,000 for full-time students and up to $3,600 for part-time students in 2020-21. The grants for students with permanent disabilities and students with dependants will also double.

The Canada Student Loans Program will be enhanced by raising the maximum weekly amount that can be provided to a student in 2020-21 from $210 to $350.

Eligibility for student financial assistance has been broadened by removing the expected student’s and spouse’s contributions in 2020-21 in recognition that many students and families will struggle to save for school this year.

Expiring federal graduate research scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships will be extended, and the government will increase funding for existing federal research grants.

For more information on these changes, please consult the link below:

https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/04/22/support-students-and-new-grads-affected-covid-19

Want to learn more? Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter for news and updates on tax return and UFile online tax software. Visit Let's Talk Tax to get accurate answers to all your questions about your tax return.

Start UFile ONLINE for FREE

UFile's tax expert Gerry Vittoratos
Presented by UFile's tax expert
Gerry Vittoratos
CPA Tax & Accounting