A lot of students look for part time jobs in Ontario and of course there are more students than jobs. What some might not be aware of is that there may be work study programs that have to provide some financial assistance. This is a program that yet again comes under the OSAP umbrella.
The general responsibility for handling this program has now been handed over to the individual colleges and universities. You should however be told about the program when you are applying for assistance through the financial aid office of your chosen educational institution. The programs may vary as to the types of jobs that may be available but the criteria to be eligible for them will be the same as they are part of OSAP. Although this is under the OSAP programs it doesn’t mean that you have to be receiving OSAP to qualify.
What it basically means is the educational institution as a selection of employment positions available that can be filled by students. For doing the work the student gets reimbursed for this.
As you can imagine there are far more students than there are jobs, so the positions fill up very fast. You may end up having to go on a waiting list, and chances are once the positions are filled for the allotted time period they won’t become vacant again.
Basically you may be allowed to work up to a total of 192 hours during the work study period. During this time you can earn up to $2,250 for the current fall-winter session but you cannot exceed this amount in the program. Breaking down into what you may be making hourly will depend on the institution that is offering the program.
The types of jobs that may be available could be working in the library or perhaps some office admin duties. Each school will have its own offering.
While it doesn’t seem like a lot of money every bit helps when you are trying to pay for your education. At the same time you are getting some valuable work experience, and this is particularly useful if your work relates to your studies.
One of the criteria that come with this type of employment opportunity is that you have to be carrying at least a 60% course load. The educational institutions make every effort to ensure that the work can be done around the student’s learning time.
