Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that applications are now open for the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG). This program is designed to provide financial assistance to students who are volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualifying students are eligible for grants from $1,000 up to $5,000 based on the number of hours they serve. The program provides qualified post-secondary students and recent graduates with volunteer opportunities to support not-for-profit organizations facing COVID-19 service challenges.
Applications for the CSSG can be made through the new I Want to Help portal. Not-for-profit organizations looking to be matched with volunteers can submit an expression of interest, as well.
Other Measures
The Prime Minister also provided details on additional federal measures for students:
- $40 million to help create 5,000 new Mitacs internships. Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that supports industrial and social innovation in Canada through the design and delivery of research and training programs. The funding is intended to help extend the scope of Mitacs programs to include students at the undergraduate level, as well as law and medicine graduate students.
- An additional $60 million to help create 10,000 new job placements for people aged between 15 and 30 through the Canada Summer Jobs Program.
- An additional $186 million investment in the Student Work Placement Program to support 20,000 job placements for post-secondary students in high demand sectors. This funding is in addition to the $80 million already announced.
- An additional $34 million to help create 3,500 new job placements and internships through the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy. The funding is intended to help create support programs in high-demand sectors such as health, community services, and information technology. The funds are in addition to the over $153 million already announced.
- An additional $40 million to the Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) program to help post-secondary graduates gain professional work experience. DS4Y provides wage subsidy opportunities to help connect young people with small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profits.
