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Category: Government

Coronavirus (20) – So, that Student Support Package

If there is one thing that unites the higher education community right now, it is the fact that we are all so, so, tired.  One thing after another.  And yesterday, just as I was thinking about what nice non-coronavirus story I could tell you, the feds dropped a $9 billion program to support students through COVID.  So naturally, this here is your explainer. The comms on this are a bit of a mess, but basically, this initiative has four pillars,

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April 23, 2020 7 Comments

Coronavirus (19, but Time is a Flat Circle). Shovel This.

Today I want to talk about economic stimulus and what that is likely to look like for universities and colleges. To be clear, the $100 billion plus in money which has gone out the door so far in emergency benefits, wage subsidies, and various other programs, is not stimulus.  What we are doing now is – in the words of the excellent Jennifer Robson – more like inducing a medical coma; keep the patient (the economy) in a kind of low-functioning stasis

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April 22, 2020 No Comments

Coronavirus (15) – Comparative Financial Carnage

Canadian universities and colleges have yet to release any figures about expected losses from coronavirus, but in other countries, estimates are popping up.  So, how bad might it get? Let’s start with the assumption that institutions in jurisdictions where institutions are supported mainly or entirely by government funds are the ones that are going to suffer the least.  I have yet to hear of any government anywhere making cuts in public funding to higher education during the emergency (ok, Alberta,

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April 14, 2020 No Comments

Coronavirus (13) – Virus Federalism

Though the national media has dealt gingerly with the subject, the fact is that this pandemic is playing out very differently across the country.  Ontario and Quebec are still in full-on holy crap mode: the situation is bad, no two ways about it.  Not Italy bad, but bad enough.  But away from Central Canada, it’s a very different story, as this graph from Tuesday’s Globe and Mail shows. Look at BC, where despite proximity to the early outbreak hub of Seattle, new daily cases

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April 8, 2020 No Comments

Coronavirus (10) – Student Support

One thing that has not yet received a lot of attention is the financial impact of the coronavirus on students.  The obvious answer is that it’s going to be very tough: the shut-down specifically targets the sectors that students rely on for jobs: tourism, restaurants/bars, and other service industries.  Though there may be a surge of temp jobs in the health industry and supply chain (either in fulfillment centres or deliveries of various sorts), it’s not difficult to foresee summer

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April 1, 2020 10 Comments

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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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