Updates for the U of A community for the week ending April 24

This week’s update includes information about a Statistics Canada survey for students, information about federal support announcements for students and researchers, information about summer camps, and the start of Fall 2020 planning efforts.

24 April 2020

Posted: April 24, 4:30 p.m.

Here are this week’s updates for the U of A community:

Statistics Canada Student Survey

Statistics Canada wants to hear from you! Share your perspective on how COVID-19 has impacted your life as a student. The data collected in this brief survey will help identify service and assistance program needs specific to students in postsecondary. Submit your responses to Statistics Canada by Friday, May 1, 2020. 

Visit the Statistics Canada website to more information and to complete the survey.

Federal support for students

On April 22, the Prime Minister announced that the federal government was preparing plans to create supports for post-secondary students and recent graduates. This includes a proposed Canada Emergency Student Benefit and the new Canada Student Service Grant. We are waiting to hear the full details of the federal plan to help students, but you can learn more about the announcement by visiting the Prime Minister of Canada website.

Federal support for COVID-19 research

On March 23, the Prime Minister announced that the federal government funding to support a national medical research strategy to fight COVID-19. This announcement builds upon the research investments made in March. We are waiting to hear the full details of the federal plan, but you can learn more about the announcement by visiting the Prime Minister of Canada website.

2020 Summer Camps

Following yesterday’s announcement from Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer preventing gatherings of more than 15 people for the duration of the summer months, a number of programs who offer summer camps are beginning to announce decisions regarding their ability to offer programs this year.

Fall 2020 Planning

While many unknowns still exist globally and locally when it comes to COVID-19 and what lies ahead, the U of A established a Fall 2020 Planning Group to start preparing for the possible scenarios we may see come Fall.

Learn more about the Fall 2020 Planning Group, the principles guiding the forward looking exercise, and the scenarios that are being explored.

You can learn more about the structure and scope of the U of A’s response to COVID-19 in the new About section on this site.