Yesterday, Ontario’s Minister of Finance released a Fiscal Update instead of a full Budget, due to the economic and policy changes being drastically impacted by COVID-19. The Update was focused nearly entirely on measures to combat COVID-19. The biggest headline was that the government is committing an additional $17bn in funding for healthcare as well as direct supports to individuals and businesses. A full list of those supports can be found here.

One of the biggest support measures announced for students was that the government is temporarily deferring loan payments and interest accrual for the  Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) to ease the financial burden on students during the COVID‐19 outbreak. This will come into effect on March 30, 2020 and will last for six months. This complements the commitment by the federal government, so students and those repaying students loans will have temporary relief from the federal and provincial portions of those loans.

We will keep you posted as the government announces more relevant news in the coming days and weeks.