Ontario NDP petition calls for $1,000 payments to all full-time college and university students

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the B.C. NDP government automatically froze all provincial student loan payments from March 30 to September 30.

But New Democrats in Ontario want to go even further to help postsecondary students feeling financially squeezed.

They've launched an online petition calling for pandemic-relief payments for those attending college and university.

The Ontario NDP wants the Doug Ford government to give $1,000 to all full-time students and $500 to all part-time students.

In addition, the party wants to ensure that there's an exemption to prevent Ontario student-aid officials from clawing this back if the student is receiving either the Canada Emergency Student Benefit or Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

"Ultimately, we need to make Ontario's public colleges and universities affordable again by converting loans to grants and eliminating interest on existing student loans," the petition states.