How COVID-19 has affected post-secondary students

In mid-March, schools, businesses and services across the province were forced to shut down to adhere to public health orders, leading to a multitude of financial and academic problems for the estimated 180,000 post-secondary students in the province.

According to Statistics Canada, more than half (57%) of students experienced some sort of disruption in their academic life, ranging from issues with delayed or cancelled classes, to uncertain academic work placements.

Statistics Canada crowdsourced data from more than 100,000 Canadian students between Apr. 19 and May 1 to determine how they were affected. StatsCan noted that crowdsourced data cannot be applied to all students across Canada but can be used as a snapshot of post-secondary student experience.

"As a university student I've had positive and not-so-positive academic results because of [COVID-19],” explained UBC Okanagan student Rachel White.

The latter end of her second term as a second-year nursing student was cut short and switched to online classes as a result of the pandemic. White says the change allowed her more time for studying, but she missed out on some parts of the program which require lab space.

“A lot of the skills that we learn ... we have pretend patients, we have case scenarios and we learn specific skills like how to do a specific type of assessment or dressing changes,” White explained. “For the last two weeks we were not able to do that.”

White says she is one of the lucky students. She lives in Lake Country, only a short drive away from the university and has been financially supported by her parents throughout her schooling.

"So, I don't have to worry about residence, I didn't have to worry nearly so much about finances and stuff like that; trying to get a flight home, that was not on my mind."

Across Canada, about 73% of respondents said they were very or extremely concerned about depleting their savings. That number dropped to 61% after the federal government announced their $9 billion emergency student aid package in April.

Following the announcement of the aid package, just under half of students still reported concerns about next year’s academic-related payments, like tuition (46%) and housing (43%).

Summer employment looked bleak for students in April, with popular opportunities like restaurants and cafes closing their doors or reducing their services.

Student employment rates for students aged 20 to 24 dropped from 53% in February, to 30% in April, according to a recent Labour Force Survey.

At the beginning of March, two-thirds of students reported having firm employment plans or prospects.

Statistics showed that of the respondents working at jobs they currently had, the majority (55%) had either lost their job or been laid off two months after.

For those students who reported a job with confirmed start dates at the beginning of March, only 13% said they still had their job, while 31% reported losing their job.

White says that because she finished her second year of nursing at UBCO, she’s able to apply to be a BC care aide. Once her official transcript is ready, she can apply for temporary registration.