(TORONTO, March 31, 2020) – The Ontario government’s announcement today of $25 million in emergency funding for post-secondary education is a major investment in student success as the province continues to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.
“This is a tremendous investment in the measures to help students complete their college education,” said Linda Franklin, the president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. “It reinforces our efforts to continue delivering quality programs during this global epidemic.”
Colleges and Universities Minister Ross Romano announced today the province has provided $25 million to colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes to mitigate some of the early costs of addressing the COVID-19 outbreak.
The funding addresses a range of fiscal pressures including support for students stranded in a community, the purchase of cleaning and medical supplies, the costs for physical and mental health resources and the added expense of transitioning to remote learning.
Ontario’s colleges announced on March 13 that in-person classes were being cancelled to protect the health and safety of students and staff.
The colleges have implemented alternate measures to deliver programs such as online learning and testing. The alternate delivery measures continue to be in effect.
“We thank the government for this important support at this critical time,” Franklin said.
“While the situation we face is challenging, we’re fortunate to have very dedicated staff and students,” Franklin said. “They are incredibly committed to the successful completion of these programs.”
About Colleges Ontario
Colleges Ontario is the advocacy organization for the province’s 24 public colleges. The organization advances policies and awareness campaigns to ensure Ontario produces the highly skilled workforce that is essential to Ontario’s prosperity. For more information, visit CollegesOntario.org.
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For more information:
Amy Dickson
Manager, Media Relations and Communications
Colleges Ontario
(647) 258-7686
dickson@collegesontario.org