Author: Jingwei Chen

This is the next article in my series of articles outlining the financial assistance available to Canadian post-secondary students with disabilities. Every province will be covered and given their their own article in order to accurately reflect their own unique financial aid availability. Prince Edward Island will be the focus of this article.

The provincial government’s Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning administers among other programs, Student Financial Services. The Canadian and Prince Edward Island governments together provide student financial aid, with the latter responsible for processing and distributing the funding. Below, the first two are courtesy of the federal government and the third is unique to Prince Edward Island.

1. The Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities

Eligible students with permanent disabilities may receive a maximum of $2,000 per academic year. This funding is meant to assist with paying for education-related expenses.

To be eligible, you must have been assessed to have a minimum of $1 in financial need; enrolled in either full-time or part-time studies; and provide evidence of physical or learning disability. Students with physical disabilities must submit a Permanent Disability Medical Form; this form can only be completed by a relevant health care professional. Students with learning disabilities must submit their psycho-educational assessment; these evaluations are must be performed by a registered psychologist. Note that Student Financial Services will only look at your application once the all medical documentation has been submitted and received.

2. The Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities for Services and Equipment

Eligible students with permanent disabilities may receive a maximum of $8,000 per academic year. This funding is meant to assist with paying for services and equipment that allow students with disabilities to access post-secondary education.

The eligibility requirement is simple: in order to be eligible for this grant, you must have been approved to receive the Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities.

The application process is a little less simple: wait until your general financial aid application has been reviewed and approved, then you will need to meet with your school’s accessibility services or disability coordinator. Together, you will determine what services and equipment will be needed for that academic year. The school must be involved because they will be the one receiving the cheque with funds to cover the requested services and equipment. However, it is your responsibility as the student to ensure all spending is accounted for; you must keep all receipts and send them to Student Financial Services. Should you have leftover funds that do not get used, they have to be paid back.

3. Prince Edward Island Severe Permanent Disability Benefit

This benefit is unique to Prince Edward Island. Having a severe permanent disability can mean the person cannot pursue further post-secondary education or join the workforce. If this reflects your circumstances and you have student loans, you can apply to have these loans terminated through this benefit, so you no longer have to pay them back.

In order to apply, you must first apply for approval for the Federal Severe Permanent Disability Benefit. Note that approval for this benefit ensures your federal student loans are voided. The next step is contact the provincial Student Financial Services and apply for the Prince Edward Island Several Permanent Disability Benefit. You must complete an application; part of this application requires evidence documenting your approval for the Federal Severe Permanent Disability Benefit. If you receive provincial approval, your provincial student loans will be cancelled—note that this approval means you may not apply for any student financial assistance in the future.

Prince Edward Island Student Financial Services provides students with disabilities access to two federal grants as well as a benefit that essentially turns previous loans into grants. The first two are available to students with disabilities across Canada while the last is available only in Prince Edward Island.

References:

1. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/topic/grants-bursaries-and-awards
2. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/workforce-and-advanced-learning/canada-student-grant-students-permanent-disabilities
3. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/workforce-and-advanced-learning/services-and-equipment-grant-students-permanent
4. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/workforce-and-advanced-learning/severe-permanent-disability-benefit

We are soon coming to the end of this series of articles outlining what financial aid is available to post-secondary students with disabilities in the provinces and territories across Canada. This article focuses on Nova Scotia, the last province to be featured. The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the only territories yet to be written about.

The program responsible for student financial assistance in the Nova Scotia government is called the Student Assistance Program. Students with disabilities are supported in three significant ways. One, they are given more time to complete their studies: a maximum of 520 weeks of funded studies, compared to 340 weeks for other students.

Two, full-time students will generally be given more funding than part-time students. For reference, full-time studies is defined as taking at least 60% of a full course load. Students with disabilities are given greater flexibility in this determination: if they are taking at least 40% of a full course load, they are considered to be full-time students. This designation allows them to hold a more manageable schedule and access greater funding.

Which brings us to three: students with disabilities are given additional funding to ensure equitable access to education. Read on below for the details.

1. The Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities

Students with disabilities in Nova Scotia will complete the same general application as other students—except the application must indicate that the applicant is a student with disabilities. With this one application, the student is assessed for both federal and provincial financial aid.

This grant is a federal grant, giving students with disabilities a maximum of $2,000 per school year (August 1 to July 31 of the next year). This funding may be used to cover tuition and related costs.  Students are eligible if they are found to have at minimum $1 of financial need; are taking either part-time or full-time studies; and submit documentation of a physical or learning disability.

2. The Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities for Services and Equipment

This federal grant provides additional support for students with disabilities who may need specialized services and equipment in order to access their education. A maximum of $8,000 is available per school year. As long as the applicant has been approved for the Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities, the applicant is eligible for this second grant.

A separate application is required for each year students want to apply for the Canada Student Grant for Students with Permanent Disabilities for Services and Equipment. This application will require students to clearly indicate what services and equipment are necessary as well as their associated estimated costs.

The general application process for students with disabilities is to first complete and submit the general application. This application will ask if you are a student with disabilities and you will indicate yes to that question. The next step is to gather and submit your medical documentation. Of the two grants above, you are automatically considered for the first while the second requires a separate application. The key is to apply early!

References:

1. https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/apply/new/FundingAvailable.asp
2. https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/apply/new/StudentsWithDisabilities.asp
3. https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/Apply/returning/ReturningStudents.asp
4. https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/Apply/New/FundingLimits.asp#Max_Weeks
5. https://novascotia.ca/PSDS/grants.asp
6. https://novascotia.ca/studentassistance/apply/new/FullTimeStudy.asp#full_course_load
7. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/education/grants/disabilities.html
8. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/education/grants/disabilities-service-equipment.html

We’ve all been told time and time again that it’s important to follow your dreams when deciding on our career path, but as the cliché goes, life happens when you’re busy making other plans. As much as we want to pursue our ambitions as soon as we get a chance to, sometimes things come up that hinder or stall our grand plans. We don’t want to give up on what we initially set ourselves to do, but bills pile up and other responsibilities and commitments crop up, and we realize it’s important to be more realistic and practical than determined and passionate. Such a scenario can lead to doing things that are not aligned with our dreams, but it doesn’t mean it can’t take us there.

Just take for example Sam Walton. You might not know him by name, but you certainly know his business. As a teen, Sam did everything he could to earn money—from milking cows to selling newspapers to offering magazine subscriptions—until he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After his service, Sam purchased a hardware store, which eventually grew to be what we know today as Walmart. Although he passed away in 1992, his legacy will continue to live on as Walmart remains to be one of the biggest retail corporations in the world.

If there is anything Sam has taught us, it’s that working a variety of jobs to make a living is a good thing. If Sam didn’t do all those things, there’s no doubt Walmart would exist today. So if you’re stuck with various work experience that may not be in line with what your target profession is, continue to persevere and you’ll reap your rewards eventually. Here’s a look at why doing a variety of jobs can benefit you:

You develop a great sense of flexibility.

If you’re juggling multiple jobs at a time, you’re bound to build up your flexibility as you make sure to adjust your skills and talents for each job. Chances are, you’ll eventually have a great set of transferrable skills that you can certainly use once you’re ready and able to go after your target career. For example, if you work at a cashier at a supermarket, you enhance your money management skills or if you work as a call centre representative, you fine-tune your customer service skills. Both abilities will serve you well if you’re targeting a manager position at a designer store or a senior position at a bank.

You get more excitement.

Doing the same job and being in the same work environment from year in, year out can take a toll on anyone. You’ll find yourself bored and restless as the job becomes tedious. By working a variety of jobs, you always have something new to look forward to because you know one’s different from the other. Even if you’re hopping from one work shift to another, you’ll know you’re bound to encounter spontaneity somehow because of the variety compared to an employee who works at the same desk job from 9am to 5pm.

You can tap on a hidden interest.

Serendipity isn’t just for love and romance, it can also apply to careers as well. This can happen when you’re juggling multiple jobs that deal with customers from all walks of life, and you realize that you have excellent people skills and thus can target a career in Human Resources or Social Work. Or you can be doing shifts at different coffee shops in the city as a barista, and you would like to make your inner businessperson come out and open your very own coffee chain someday. This is why if current circumstances is forcing you to work a multitude of jobs that’s really not within your career path, don’t say no because who knows, you may discover something new about yourself that leads to a bigger future for you.

You lay a solid groundwork.

Working at a call centre solving technical issues may not be your dream job, but it teaches you more skills that you can bank on in the future whatever profession you choose to be in. This is because to attend to customer’s issues, you make use of your problem-solving skills and analytical thinking abilities so you can provide the customer the best solution. In any company, these are vital talents that can lead to a senior or leadership role down the line. Same case for retail store attendants who are bombarded with returns or exchanges by customers. You hone your abilities to handle complaints with professionalism and diplomacy, while at the same time develop your talents on how to resolve conflicts. Again, two pertinent skills that can prove valuable in any industry.

Now that you’ve read the above, it’s highly unlikely that you’re still feeling negative about being all tied up now to working various jobs that have nothing to do with your true passion. You might have taken a different route, but you’ll get to your destination anyway. If anything, you have developed all the skills and talents necessary to get you in the right direction.

SOURCES:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/embrace-your-paths-why-having-multiple-jobs-is-a-good-thing

http://athgo.org/5-success-stories-ceos-humble-beginnings/

https://peopledevelopmentmagazine.com/2016/11/14/variety-work-life/

Finding, keeping, and enjoying work is a challenge all of us face. Yet this journey is easier for some than others. There is an inherent lack of fairness to life that we all must accept, but we have to be aware of the unfairness we can change. Statistically, people with physical or mental disabilities are less likely to find employment, and if they do, they often receive less pay and are held back from achieving higher positions. There are practices and ways of thinking that must change in order to make things fair.

The federal government has been shutting down sheltered workshops for people with developmental disabilities seeking work. Investigations have revealed that these workers have frequently been paid less than minimum wage, often barely making more than just one dollar per hour. This is justified by calling it a work experience program; employers feel they are doing these individuals a favour, and it is considered sufficient that these workers are not simply stuck at home unemployed. Conversely, studies show that Canada ranks in the top half amongst 16 peer countries when it comes to income for people with disabilities. Statistics such as these can be used to falsely justify the notion that enough is being done. However, the same research also shows that Canada is in the bottom half of those same 16 nations when it comes to employment of people with disabilities.

With Ontario phasing out the aforementioned sheltered workshops, which were often paying illegal wages, more and more disabled people are finding themselves out of work. In 2011, 79% of people aged 25 to 64 without disabilities were employed, compared to just 49% of people with disabilities in the same age group. Even qualified university graduates with disabilities were less likely to hold positions at a management level and earned lower salaries. Two troubling facts are clear: people with disabilities have more barriers to employment, and even when they find work, they are often paid less and nothing is done about it.

As more light is shed on this issue, more is likely to change. Mark Wafer, the owner of multiple Tim Hortons in Toronto, has been an advocate for this and has hired dozens of people with disabilities for his restaurants. The issue is not ability, as is clearly evident from the continuous employment of people with developmental and physical disabilities. Rather, it is greed on the part of employers and the turning of many a blind eye. This is seen in the increasing inequality between the extremely rich and the fading middle class, both nationally and worldwide. We must elect progressive politicians who will ensure fair, living wages for all workers, and support businesses that do the same by choosing to buy their goods or services instead of going to places with unfair practices.

This is not a change that will happen overnight. But it is another step in the battle against increasing inequality. When we ensure that people with disabilities are employed and earning fair wages for work they are clearly capable of doing, we encourage better wages and working conditions for everyone. Awareness is the first step. Be mindful of the stores and restaurants you choose to give your money to, and of the causes and policies that politicians champion at all levels of government. Every step towards fairness is a leap forward for all of us.

Sources

The Conference Board of Canada. “Disabled Income.” https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/Details/society/disabled-income.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Turcotte, Martin. “Persons with disabilities and employment.” Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2014001/article/14115-eng.htm

Ovid, Noella. “Families say minimum-wage changes are cutting jobs for people with disabilities.” The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-families-say-minimum-wage-changes-are-cutting-jobs-for-people-with/

Wafer, Mark. “People with disabilities deserve to be paid a legal wage.” The Star. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/03/30/people-with-disabilities-deserve-to-be-paid-a-legal-wage.html