Discontinuation of CESB leaves students concerned following Throne Speech

The Throne Speech took place on Wednesday, September 23 and was delivered at a crucial time in Canada as several provinces, including Ontario, move into a second wave of the pandemic. The Trudeau government laid out its strategy for public health and economic recovery over the upcoming months, extending as far ahead as next summer. The speech outlined the fate of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)—and it is not as promising as one might have hoped. Though many have praised this year’s Throne Speech for discussing systemic racism and climate change, the speech’s pledges fell short of prioritizing long-term support for students as CESB comes to an end.

CERB AND EI

A CERB extension has not been announced; alternatively, the Liberal government has stated that they will work to create over one million jobs in Canada and invest more in childcare. Improvements to Employment Insurance (EI) will also be one of the main tenets of the income support plan, while the CERB will be transitioning into the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), which will continue until next summer.  CEWS will also support initiatives to help workers find employment and claims to allow for higher participation of women in the workforce. In the speech, it was declared that this will be accomplished through “investments in the social sector and infrastructure, immediate training to quickly skill up workers, and incentives for employers to hire and retain workers.”

Students at Risk

Many of us were hoping that this speech would be the moment when the government would announce a more comprehensive plan to continue advocating for students. Although the new plans encapsulate a transition plan for workers and businesses, they lack a full-scale program to account for increasing debt and living costs that will impact students during the second wave. Moreover, with the new EI plan, income support will be approximately $100 less per week than the calculated CERB amount.

During the speech it was mentioned that more details will be announced near the end of the year by means of a fiscal update. Missing details regarding the implementation of the new initiatives has concerned many students, as we are not sure where exactly we fit into these programs—particularly fresh graduates. During the speech, neither students hoped to see discussions on affordable tuition rates increased educational accessibility nor a continuation of the CESB, which was a lifeline for over 2 million recipients, were covered.  The long-term financial impacts of the pandemic remain uncertain, and students must be recognized as they were through CESB: a group, like workers, in need of consistent financial support in the face of COVID-19.