The rapid evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused sudden and widespread changes for McGill students. In the wake of campus closures, travel restrictions, and shuttered businesses, students have found their routines entirely upended, and many are struggling to make ends meet.
McGill student Maia Stevenson, BCL/LLB’20, found herself quarantined in Europe, with no means to get back to Canada and nowhere to stay upon her return. “I am currently on exchange in France,” says Stevenson, “although ‘exchange’ has looked like the inside of my apartment for the last two weeks. I have already lost a lot of money in cancelled, changed, and new flights.”
The University has launched the McGill Student Emergency Support Fund to assist students in financial difficulty because of the COVID-19 crisis. Money raised through the fund goes to Emergency Support Bursaries to help McGill students who otherwise can't afford the unforeseen expenses they are facing right now, whether for food or rent, travel funds to get home or return from research or internship locations, study needs related to online learning or other necessities. All emergency funding will be put immediately to use for any undergraduate or graduate student with demonstrated financial need due to this unprecedented pandemic.
“Within the McGill student body, about one third already rely on need-based aid to help with the normal costs of attendance,” says Cara Piperni, director of the Scholarships and Student Aid Office. “In times of such extenuating circumstances, lower income students are even more vulnerable.”
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Scholarships and Student Aid Office had already distributed over 95 per cent of its yearly bursary allowance. Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi reacted quickly and extended a significant “line of credit” for immediate use for critical student cases. And now, members of the global McGill community have generously contributed nearly $150,000 in the short time since the fund was initiated. Still, the need for the emergency bursaries is great.
“We want students to consider their health and safety first and foremost, rather than limit their choices due to financial constraint,” says Piperni.
The Quebec government’s announcement on March 13 that all schools and universities in the province would close forced swift action by the University, including the cancellation of all in-person classes and sit-down exams for the remainder of the academic year. Online instruction for courses that can be taught remotely started on March 30. And spring Convocation was also recently called off.
As a result, students no longer need to be physically on campus, and many of them wish to return home as soon as possible. Students who are abroad doing internships, exchanges or research – sometimes in remote locations – may incur unexpected costs as they try to return home or to Montreal. With ubiquitous travel restrictions, flight options are scarce and costly. Emergency funds can help students reunite with their families.
“The financial aid from McGill means that my top priority can be finding a way home,” says Stevenson. With the emergency funds, she can also afford a place to stay upon her return to Canada, where she will be in mandatory self-isolation. “As I will receive no refund on my spring rent here in France, I am not sure how I could have afforded rent in Canada without the financial support I’ve just received.”
On March 24, the University requested that students who can safely relocate from residences do so in order to provide the most secure residence environment possible for students who have nowhere else to go. For those living off-campus, returning to their families may be the most desirable option, but often they are still expected to pay rent on the apartment or room they leave behind.
Closures both on and off campus have drastically affected students’ part-time earnings, which is a critical resource to help with living costs such as rent, food and medications. Family members who may ordinarily be able to assist students with these costs may themselves face economic uncertainty in the wake of closures.
“Before the outbreak of COVID-19, I was set to continue working at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital Medical Library and as a research assistant at McGill's Rare Books and Special Collections,” says Chelsea Woodhouse, a master’s candidate in Library and Information Studies. “Though I am able to maintain my research assistant position remotely, my hours are minimal. Conversely, the Neuro Library has been closed until further notice.”
The emergency need-based bursaries are immediately available for students through the Scholarships and Student Aid Office, a unit within Student Services. Financial aid counsellors will work with each student applicant to understand their particular circumstances. The aid amount will vary based on the demonstrated and immediate financial need of each student, the number of applicants and the number of bursaries available.
“Student Aid at McGill worked incredibly quickly in order to help me arrange to return home as soon as possible,” says Stevenson. “It is a huge relief to have extra support during this time of uncertainty and unforeseen expenses. It has been inspiring to see the McGill community pull together like this.”
Are you a student with immediate financial concerns? Apply for support.
If you would like to support student emergency bursaries, you can do so through the McGill Giving site.