Ontario budget 2016: Free post-secondary tuition for low-income families

TORONTO – University and college will soon be free for students from low-income families and more affordable for those from middle-class homes. The Ontario government’s 2016 budget includes a complete overhaul of the province’s current assistance program, which Finance Minister Charles Sousa called “complex and convoluted.” The minister said the new system will be more accessible but cost taxpayers roughly the same amount. Here’s what the changes will mean for some of those who qualify:

University student living at home, tuition $6,160, family income of $45,000:

Total expenses: $12,608

Total assistance: $9,607 (down $1)

Grant: $6,860 (up $3,109)

Loan: $2,747 (down $3,110)

READ MORE: Ontario budget 2016: Students get lower tuition; booze, tobacco taxes increased

University student living at home, tuition $6,160, family income of $40,000, scholarship worth $5,000:

Total expenses: $12,600

Total assistance: $7,837

Grant: $6,050 (up $2,299)

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Loan: $1,787 (down $1,079)

READ MORE: Ontario budget doesn’t deliver new funding for housing, other Toronto needs

University student living in residence, tuition $6,160, family income of $80,000:

Total expenses: $18,000

Total assistance: $15,000 (up $2,257)

Grant: $6,042 (up $699)

Loan: $8,958 (up $1,558)

Parents no longer expected to contribute

READ MORE: Higher booze tax and other ways Ontario’s budget will hit pocketbooks

College student living at home, tuition $2,768, family income of $40,000:

Total expenses: $8,900

Total assistance: $5,914 (same)

Grant: $5,383 (up $2,612)

Loan: $531 (down $2,612)

College student living at home, tuition $2,768, family income of $80,000:

Total expenses: $8,900

Total assistance: $5,914 (up $1,533)

Grant: $3,468 (up $1,827)

Loan: $2,446 (up $294)

Parents no longer expected to contribute

WATCH: PC leader Patrick Brown says that the Liberals are “balancing the books on the backs students, seniors and families.” 

5:50 PC leader Patrick Brown reacts to the 2016 Ontario budget

WATCH: Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath reacts to the budget announcement saying that the sell-off of Hydro One is hurting jobs, that the Liberal government has lowered its job estimates by 60,000 and that hospitals continue to be hurt by cutbacks.

3:23 NDP leader Andrea Horwath reacts to the announcement of the Ontario Budget