Mississauga MPP announces changes to Ontario student aid program

Big changes are coming to how low- and middle-income students access financial aid in Ontario. Mississauga-Erindale MPP Harinder Takhar announced the new Ontario Student Grant Program at U of T Mississauga on Thursday.

The provincially funded Ontario Student Grant program is “the single largest modernization of the Ontario Student Assistance Program in its history,” Takhar said. “The new program combines existing student financial aid programs into a single upfront grant that is more generous and straightforward and targeted to those with the greatest financial need.

“Access to education should not be the privilege of only a few,” he said. “Our government believes that all students, regardless of their background or the size of their parent’s paycheques, should be able to afford to go to college or university in Ontario.”

Under the new program, average tuition will be free nearly 250,000 low- and middle-income students. The new program will also extend financial support to a wider range of full-time students, including those who are married, mature or who have been out of school for more than four years. Recipients will not be required to repay the aid, which, Takhar says, will exceed what students would have received under the OSAP program.

“The new Ontario Student Grant will make it so much easier for families to plan for their educations — no matter what their income level or educational background,” Takhar said.

Professor Deep Saini, vice-president of the University of Toronto and principal of U of T Mississauga, welcomed the announcement. “U of T welcomes the changes and modernization of the Ontario financial aid system,” Saini said. “The new Ontario Student Grant will help students with the greatest need get better access to grants upfront and increase the amount of financial support they receive.”

Details of the program are being finalized and are to be implemented in September 2017.