OSPE - COVID-19 Economic Recovery Recommendations - Provincial Government - 11

6. Support engineering students and recent engineering graduates.
COVID-19 has negatively impacted engineering students and new engineering graduates in numerous ways. Specifically, students and
engineering graduates are having difficulty accessing co-op/work integrated learning (WIL) opportunities. Co-op placements provide
practical training experience that is needed as part of the work experience requirement for licensing and to obtain the necessary applied
skills to succeed in the workplace.
Moreover, the decrease in access to co-op placements/WIL opportunities has a significant impact on engineering students, who use
these as a source to finance their studies. As outlined in OSPE's 2019 report Engineering Students and Graduates: Perspectives on
Tuition, Job Prospects, and Co-op/internships, tuition for engineering students in Ontario is higher than the national average and
considerably higher than some other undergraduate degree programs. While survey results indicated that this did not dissuade students
from pursuing an engineering degree, most respondents expressed significant concern regarding their ability to pay off student loans or
debt, needed to finance these higher tuition fees and educational expenses.
OSPE recognizes that the Ontario government took action to reduce all tuition fees by 10% in the 2019-20 school year and freeze tuition
fees for the 2020-21 school year. The government stated this would be a reduction of $660 on average for university students enrolled
in an undergraduate arts and science degree. Northern schools have access to a contingency fee to offset some of their lost revenue
due to their inability to attract a high proportion of international students. However, it is also important to note that this cut to tuition was
also accompanied by significant proposed cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) grants, which is expected to increase
student debt loads.
There is deep concern that the financial strain that engineering students are currently facing has only become more pronounced because
of these changes. Given the limited availability of such programs, student engineers often seek student loans from banks and credit
unions to pay higher tuition fees and are further disadvantaged because (i) commercial bank/credit union student loans typically carry
higher interest rates than federal/provincial student loans and (ii) interest paid on student loans provided by banks and credit unions are
not eligible for tax deduction purposes.
Government support programs for students and new graduates must recognize that:

* Engineering programs are far more expensive than arts programs (Ontario engineering programs are amongst the costliest in

Canada), so current financial support programs, are effectively less supportive for engineering students than arts

students/other programs.

* Engineering sources of income are essentially disappearing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Historical pre-COVID-19 earnings tests from parents are effectively irrelevant to determining whether a student can pay

forthcoming engineering tuition.

* Parental earnings may not be available to support students going forward.

* The value of traditional tax incentives available to students and parents (RESP, Textbook tax credit, tuition credits etc.) have

either been cancelled or significantly atrophied as a percentage of real student educational and living costs.
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OSPE - COVID-19 Economic Recovery Recommendations - Provincial Government

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - COVID-19 Economic Recovery Recommendations - Provincial Government