CHAT News File Photo

By Chris Brown with files from Alex McCuaig

Update from the PM

PM announces help for post-secondary students

Apr 22, 2020 | 9:31 AM

Students at Medicine Hat College and Hatters who attend school elsewhere will soon be getting help from the federal government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that post-secondary students will be eligible for $1,250 per month from May to August via the new Canada Emergency Student Benefit.

That will rise to $1,750 for any student who is taking care of someone else or who has a disability.

Students currently in school, those who graduated in December 2019 or those who were to start in September 2020 will be eligible. Any student who currently has a job but is making less than $1,000 per month will also be eligible.

“The Canada Emergency Student Benefit will provide immediate help,” Trudeau said during his daily address from outside Rideau Cottage.

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The president of the Medicine Hat College’s student association says post-secondary advocates were on the issue since the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) left out of that aid package.

“We’ve been working on this since that CERB was announced. We are very happy that they are going to fill that gap for sure,” said Dalton Ehry, president of the students association. “It’s unfortunate that students aren’t at the same level as all the other Canadians but we are happy there is some relief coming for our students.”

“What you’re going through matters. We want to make sure you’ll be OK.”

The coverage period will begin on May 1.

Trudeau also announced the government will create 76,000 jobs for young people, separate from the Canada Summer Jobs program.

“For student researchers and graduate students, we’re going to invest over $291 million to extend scholarships, fellowships and grants to make sure you can keep working. Depending on your funding, it will be extended by either three or four months,” Trudeau said.

The creation of the Canada Student Service Grant was also announced by the prime minister. Students helping in the fight against COVID-19 this summer will soon be eligible for between $1,000 and $5,000, depending on hours worked, through the grant.

Trudeau said some of those jobs could be in the area of contact tracing or other sectors such as agriculture that could use an extra hand this summer.

“Young people want and need good summer jobs and we’re going to try and make sure they get them,” he said.

Trudeau also announced an extra $75 million to increase support for First Nations, Inuit and Metis Nation students.

The aid package for students announced today totals $9 billion.

While some students qualified for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, others did not.

That benefit provides $500 a week for up to 16 weeks to Canadians who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, provided they had an income of at least $5,000 in the previous 12 months.

The government has also previously put a six-month, interest-free moratorium on student loan repayments.

Trudeau also announced that help for seniors is coming.

The government recognized that people who had lost income and students soon to lose summer income should be taken care of first, he explained.

That said, even though the income for many seniors hasn’t changed, they are facing their own challenges such as a rising cost of living.

As of Wednesday morning, Canada had 38,923 confirmed cases, nine probable cases and 1,871 deaths. There have been 576,348 Canadians tested.

In Alberta, there are 3,095 cases and 61 deaths. A total of 104,370 Albertans have been tested.