February 9, 2021

The Simon Fraser Student Society wants to reduce barriers for students in need of financial support. On January 29, 2021, the 2020-2021 SFSS Board passed a motion to approve a Spring and Summer semester emergency COVID-19 funding of $200,000 per term. The funding criteria will be $500 per student with 40% allocated to domestic students and 60% to international students.*

The next step in this initiative is for the organization to determine how to administer the application process, workflow procedures, and accurate funding distribution. We will be informing students of more details when we have developed a process that will best serve our members. Please continue to monitor our website and social media channels for updates regarding the funding and applications process.

*The decision to split the Emergency Funding by 40%/60% between domestic and international students is due to the increased government funding options for Canadians (provincial and federal grants) and the greater probability of international students needing to fly to Canada for the summer or fall semester.

Background

The 2019-2020 SFSS Board of Directors contributed $150,000 to SFU’s Emergency COVID-19 Fund in the 2020 spring semester to support domestic and international students under a 50/50 split. These funds were used to support technology purchases, plane tickets home, and other things to help adapt to remote learning in the summer. Many of the current emergency funds in place would only be distributed in the form of a bursary. Unfortunately, the bursary system has many limitations, such as not allowing part-time students to apply and placing CGPA limits.