Education cutbacks have Ontario students weighing their financial options

By Alex Mahar

BELLEVILLE – With the Ford government cuts to education, are post-secondary students in the Quinte region leaning toward student bank loans or OSAP to get through school?

Since taking office in June 2018, Doug Ford’s government has made many cutbacks, especially to post-secondary programs and funding.

Ford removed $25 million from the fund that gives grants to post-secondary students, which the students don’t have to pay back. The government also cut more than $300 million from the student loan program, and removed free tuition for students from low-income families.

The cuts mean that the Ontario Student Assistance Program is giving students less money in grants compared to loans that have to be paid back at the end of their schooling.

So is OSAP still the best route for students?

A.J. Burlington, who works at the Bank of Nova Scotia in Belleville, says the institution has seen a spike in applications by students for bank loans this year compared to last. Appointment slots for students at the Belleville branch are booked solid through the end of September, he says.

Are students in Ontario, and more specifically the Quinte region, seeing loans from banks as a better option now that assistance from OSAP has been cut back?

More to come.