LATEST STORIES:

Ontario parents with school-aged kids to receive new government support

Share this story...

Ontario parents with school-aged children can now apply for government payments of up to $200 per child or $250 for kids with special needs.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the financial assistance acts as help for tutoring supports for students to “catch up” from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provincial government did not specify in the announcement Thursday if parents would have to prove how the money would be spent.

READ MORE: Ontario launches plan for schools to ‘catch up’ from the COVID-19 pandemic

Parents received a number of direct payments from Ontario during the pandemic, with no conditions other than the age of their children.

The new “catch up” payments will add up to $365 million.

When little details about the program were first announced in this year’s post-election budget, critics said money should be spent on the public education system and not be given to private tutoring companies.