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The federal government is increasing the amounts some students can receive as grants through the Canada Student Grants (CSG) program.

The government announced today that it will increase the amounts available to those who qualify for the program by 50%. Full-time students from low-income families will be eligible for $3,000 per year in assistance, which is up from the previous amount of $2,000. Assistance for full-time students from middle-income families jumps to $1,200 per year from $800. Financial assistance for part-time students from low-income families will increase to $1,800 from $1,200.

The changes to CSGs came into effect on Aug. 1 and were initially proposed in the federal government’s 2016 budget, announced in March. The increase will provide assistance of $1.53 billion over five years.

The government stated in the same announcement that it expects to have new eligibility thresholds for the CSG program in place for the 2017-18 school year, following consultations with the provinces and territories.

A new CSG model would see the existing low-income and middle-income thresholds replaced by a scale under which grant amounts would gradually decline based on income and family size. The change would cost $790 million over four years and make the program available to more students, according to the announcement.

The federal government also announced on Tuesday that its Repayment Assistance Plan for people who benefit from the Canada Student Loan program will be modified so borrowers can earn more before being required to repay that loan. This change will take effect on Nov. 1 and is expected to provide assistance of $131.4 million over five years.

For example, a single person will not be required to begin repaying his or her federal student loan until they earn an annual gross income of $25,000, an increase from the current level of $20,210 per year. A family of two will not have to make any repayments until its annual family gross income reaches $39,052, up from the current threshold of $31,570.

A full breakdown of the new income thresholds based on family size is available through the federal government’s announcement.

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