TORONTO -- One of the measures intended to help students announced by the federal government in April's budget is set to take effect on Sunday.
Last year, the feds doubled the Canada Student Grant for the 2020-2021 school year, setting the maximum amount available at $6,000 for full-time students and $10,000 for students with disabilities.
As of Aug. 1, the doubling of these grants has been extended to July 2023. It's part of the federal government's $4.5 billion in funding for students and recent graduates that was announced as a part of the 2021 federal budget.
"Post-secondary education is an incredible opportunity that all Canadians deserve the chance to pursue," said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough in a statement. "That is why it is so important that we reduce the barriers for young Canadians with disabilities as they make that transition."
The federal budget also outlined changes to the Repayment Assistance Plan, which allows graduates to defer student loan payments until their income is above a certain threshold. Currently, the threshold is $25,000, but the 2021 budget pledged to increase the threshold to $40,000. However, it's still unclear when this change will be implemented.
Back in April, the government also froze student loan interest on the federal portion of student loans, although the loan repayments themselves weren't frozen for students who weren't on the Repayment Assistance Plan. The budget also extends the student-loan interest moratorium to March 2023.
