College students can apply for financial relief after strike

Film and TV Production student Chris Wannamaker says that the $500 compensation is too little. Photo by Joseph Carin, QNet News.

By Joseph Carin

BELLEVILLE – The application form for the student strike relief fund was released Tuesday.

College students who plan to finish the academic year are eligible to apply for the relief fund for financial support.

Those who wish to drop out of their program and apply for a refund of their tuition will be given the opportunity until Dec. 5. Those who apply for the refund are not eligible for but for support from the relief fund.

Loyalist students can find the application form posted to the college website portal, myloyalist.com., according to an email sent Tuesday from Loyalist College’s senior vice-president and chief learning officer, Ann Drennan.

This comes after the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development announced that up to $500 will be provided to each student who has been financially affected by the faculty strike in October and November.

The areas covered by the student relief fund are travel, living, child care and other essential expenses.  Students must provide supporting evidence of extra costs alongside their application.

“I feel good that we get the chance at (compensation). It is something,” said Loyalist Film and TV Production student Chris Wannamaker in an interview with QNet News. “In my case I couldn’t get extra hours at my work with the strike happening. It has been tough.”

However Wannamaker said that $500 is not enough – an opinion that some other Loyalist students have expressed.

QNet News has contacted Drennan seeking an interview.