B.C. teachers' strike: $40-a-day payments for parents due this week
97 per cent of eligible B.C. families registered to get $520 per public school child under 13
Some 165,000 B.C. families who registered for the Temporary Education Support Payment program during the B.C. teachers' strike can expect to get their cheques in the mail this week, says the Ministry of Finance.
In July, the B.C. government promised to pay parents of eligible public school students under the age of 13 a $40-a-day temporary education support payment for the duration of the B.C. teachers' strike, should it continue into the new school year in September.
Students went back to class on Sept. 22, almost three weeks late, and the provincial government said the accumulated education support funds would be disbursed to parents and caregivers toward the end of October.
In a press release issued Wednesday, B.C. Finance minister Mike de Jong said he recognized that the labour disruption at the beginning of the school year imposed costs on families.
"Our intention with the temporary education support payment was to provide a modest degree of support for parents who incurred most of those costs. As promised, families can expect to receive payment over the coming days," he said.
The payments apply to the first 13 days of school from Sept. 2 until Sept. 18, when teachers ratified the collective agreement. The 13 days adds up to $520, and the payment is not taxable.
According to government figures, the cheques mailed this week represent more than half of the nearly 230,000 families that have applied for the payment.
The majority of the remaining payments are expected to be sent out by the end of October and received by families within the next two weeks.
Speaking to reporters at the B.C. Legislature on Wednesday, De Jong also said extra time would be needed to confirm the enrolment of new students attending kindergarten, with those payments not expected until late November.
The government estimates some 97 per cent of families eligible for the program have registered. Parents who are yet to register can do so until Jan. 31, 2015.
With files from The Canadian Press