Post secondary students and recent graduates are facing unprecedented challenges due to COVID-19, with fewer jobs and internship opportunities in their communities. To support students in this unique time, our government has announced a number of support programs, including: 

The Canada Emergency Student Benefit 

Provides financial support to post-secondary students, recent graduates and high school graduates, who are unable to find work due to COVID-19 and who do not qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance (EI). 

This benefit will provide $1,250 for every four week period from May to August 2020 for eligible post-secondary students and recent graduates, or $2,000 for every four week period from May to August 2020 for eligible post-secondary students or recent graduates with dependents or a disability.

For further information, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/benefits/emergency-student-benefit.html. 

For general questions, you can call the CRA's general enquiries line at 1-833-966-2099, from Monday to Friday 9 am to 6 pm local time. 

For specific questions about your account information, including having trouble applying for the CESB because you haven't filed a tax return recently, making changes to your account, or if you having trouble accessing your CRA My Account, call 1-800-959-8281, available Monday to Friday between 9 am and 6 pm local time. 

Eligibility Requirements 

•  You did not apply, receive, nor qualify, for the CERB or EI benefits for the same eligibility period;
•  You are a Canadian citizen, registered Indian, permanent resident or protected person; 
•  You are studying in Canada or abroad;
•  You are enrolled in a post-secondary educational program that leads to a degree, diploma or certificate, you completed or ended your post-secondary studies in December 2019 or later, you completed or expect to complete high school in 2020, and have applied for a post-secondary educational program that starts before February 1, 2021. 
•  One of the following applies:
  •  you are unable to work due to COVID-19
  •  you are looking for, but cannot find work due to COVID-19 
  •  you are currently working during the COVID-19 pandemic, but your income from employment and self-employment has been $1,000 or less (before taxes) during the 4-week period you are applying for.
•  An additional $750 for each four week period is available for those wo have a disability, or those who have at least one child under the age of 12 or other dependents. 

Graduating high school students

The CESB is available to eligible high school students who: 

• completed or expect to complete high school, or received, or expect to receive their high school equivalency in 2020 
•  applied for a post-secondary educational program that starts before February 1, 2021 

If you complete high school: 

• before June 7, 2020, your highschool completion date must be before the start of the first eligibility period you are applying for 
•  after June 7, 2020, you can only apply for 2 eligibility periods, starting from the July 5 to August 1 eligibilty period 

Canada Summer Jobs Program 

The federal government is increasing the number of job placements for young people between the ages of 15 and 30 through the Canada Summer Jobs program. 

Young Canadians can apply for jobs that are regularly posted on http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/youth. 

Changes to Canada Student Loans 

The following changes to the Canada Student Grants and Loans have been introduced to support post-secondary students and recent graduates, including:

• suspension of repayments of Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans; 
• doubling the maximum amount of Canada Student Grants ,with a maximum of $6,000 for full-time students, and a maximum amount of $3,600 for part-time students; and 
• increasing the cap on Canada Student Loans for the 2020 to 2021 school year, the weekly maximum loan limit will increase from $210 to $350.