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Ottawa students and supporters took part in one of a series of provincewide rallies Wednesday denouncing the Ontario government’s cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
Last month, the province announced it will decrease the proportion of grants offered through OSAP from about 85 per cent of funding to a maximum of 25 per cent, making the rest student loans.
Ontario also said it’s lifting a seven-year tuition freeze to allow colleges and universities to raise fees by up to two per cent per year for the next three years.
Students and other groups are worried the changes will have a devastating impact on people’s ability to access post-secondary education.
Hazem Kouki, one of the people who gathered at the University of Ottawa on Wednesday, said the OSAP formula change will send more people into deeper debt.
“[It’s] very atrocious,” Kouki said, adding that he’s counselled his younger brother against getting a credit card.
‘I do believe that this is gonna be quite drastic for many students,’ Hazem Kouki said. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)OSAP ‘a lifeline’
Alex Stratas also attended the U of O rally. She’s the advocacy commissioner for the university’s student union.
She says she’s getting emails every day from students “terrified” about how they can complete their studies across many fields, and called the OSAP program “a lifeline.”
“We’re all very angry,” she said.
Pavel Nangfack said nobody wants to take on more loans, “especially when the job market is very much crumbling right now.”
WATCH | Ottawa students add their voice:
Students are protesting the recent OSAP changes
University of Ottawa students held a rally on Wednesday, part of a provincewide day of action at post-secondary institutions. CBC’s Cameron Mahler went and spoke to students about their thoughts.
The changes announced by the province come with an additional $6.4 billion for the post-secondary sector over four years, following a funding formula review and a strong push from cash-strapped colleges and universities.
The government has defended the cuts as being necessary for sustainability.
OSAP money comes in the form of grants (money you don’t pay back) and loans (money you do pay back).Â
While OSAP is a provincial program, the money students receive actually comes from both the provincial and federal governments, according to the program’s definition on the government of Ontario’s website.Â
WATCH | Ontario cuts back OSAP for post-secondary students:
Ontario lifts tuition freeze, cuts back OSAP for post-secondary students
Ontario is giving colleges and universities billions in new funding, while lifting a seven-year tuition fee freeze and cutting back on the amount of student assistance grants.
The announced cuts to OSAP only affect the provincial portion of grants students can receive. That means that the roughly 40 per cent of OSAP funding that comes from the province will be affected.Â
How much impact this could have per student remains unclear. The OSAP formula change will take effect this fall.
The rally in Ottawa, pictured here, came in addition to hundreds of students gathering outside Queen’s Park in Toronto and hundreds walking out of class in Waterloo in protest. Earlier this week, high school students in Oshawa also led a walkout. (Anne-Marie Trickey)