On Sunday, dozens of high school students, parents, and community supporters gathered outside Kitchener City Hall to protest the provincial government’s plan to change the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). They warned that these changes could lead young people into more debt and make it harder for them to access higher education.
The rally was organized mainly by local high school students along with members from the Green Party and NDP.
“I know people who are now thinking twice about what they want to study at university because they might not be able to afford it anymore,” said Quentin Dunning, a grade 11 student from Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School and one of the organizers of the protest.
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Quentin Dunning, a grade 11-student from Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, helped to organize the protest. “We need to protest day after day after day and keep showing them that we care,” he said. (Diego Pizarro/CBC)
Last month, the province announced changes to how OSAP works that will start this fall.
Right now, students can get up to 85 percent of their funding as grants, with only 15 percent being loans. Under the new system, grants will drop down to just 25 percent of student aid, with the rest coming as loans.
Yunus Osman, a grade 12 student at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener came out because he feels “confused” about how these changes will affect his plans for post-secondary education. He hopes to study electrical engineering this fall.
“With how much programs cost nowadays, I’m honestly going to struggle with debt afterwards,” he said.
Osman was joined by two other students on King Street collecting signatures for a petition aimed at reversing these changes.
“It seems like they’re unaware of what regular Canadian students are dealing with,” he noted.
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Raeie Asfaw (left), Yunus Osman (middle) and Issac Williams were on the corner of King St. and Young St. collecting signatures for a petition to have the OSAP grant cut reversed. (Diego Pizarro/CBC )
Aislinn Clancy, deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario, participated in the rally and led various chants among the students.
Clancy organized this event after receiving a “flood” of emails from youth concerned about these proposed changes.
“This adds anxiety to a generation that’s already under so much pressure,” Clancy stated. “I’ve been really inspired seeing young people take action,” she added.
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Aislinn Clancy, deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario, spoke at the event. (Diego Pizarro/CBC)
The protest also attracted representatives from labor unions and educational organizations like the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation as well as Waterloo Region Labour Council.
Dunning mentioned that even though he’s personally not affected by OSAP’s changes himself, he still wants his fellow students to engage more actively in pushing back against these decisions.
“What’s different between me and someone born into a less fortunate family?” he asked rhetorically.
“One protest doesn’t change anything; we need continuous action day after day.”
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