EI Connect Cancellation Leaves UNB Student In Dire Financial Straits
SAINT JOHN – Melanie Clark was putting in 12-hour days at a full-time job, building up enough hours to use as part of the provincial EI Connect program while she went to school. But then, the province abruptly ended the program, leaving her in a financial bind.
Now, Clark, a single mother of two, is trying to figure out how to cover her rent and support herself while attending classes.
“I was hoping for at least some kind of government help, but clearly the government has decided that they want to keep people poor,” said Clark.
The lack of support this year was a departure, Clark said, from the 2021-2022 academic year when she studied political science in her first year at UNB Saint John. That year, she was able to employment insurance through NB-EI Connect.
“I always try to be positive but this is just ridiculous. It was all budgeted before the end of the summer and I had assumed it was going to be there. There was no real wiggle-room because I had assumed I’d get some help,” said Clark.
RELATED: Cancelled EI Program Leaves Some Students Scrambling
Clark planned her entire budget around the understanding that she’d get help from the NB-EI Connect program again this year.
“I was trying to set myself up as best as possible, to find a job that I could get enough hours,” said Clark.
“I’ve been searching, searching, searching. There were a lot of jobs I could have taken that were part-time – which meant I could have more time with my kids, but I needed to get EI Connect.”
While working, Clark ended up having to pay two babysitters to look after her kids. Thenduring her long working days this past summer, she got the news that the government was discontinuing EI Connect.
The cancellation of EI Connect in June was panned by the UNB Students’ Representative Council as “out of touch” with the needs and financial hurdles facing post-secondary students.
The province explained the decision by saying the program was never meant to fund post-secondary education or serve as student aid, since it was not part of the federal government’s EI benefit requirements.
Other Avenues
“I was trying to find some other avenues,” said Clark. She tried to qualify for Training and Skills Development (TSD) funding but did not hear back.
This pivoting to a backup plan couldn’t come at a more stressful time, Clark said, noting that rent was due.
“I was like, ‘Okay, well, maybe I will do assistance.’ I called assistance and let them know and … they were like ‘call us back when you received your last pay and we will get it all figured out.’”
When she called back, as requested, she says she was told assistance was only available to someone with no job or not going back to school and that she didn’t meet the criteria.
“So, pretty much, I was told, ‘you’re going back to nothing,’ and that was my very last plan,” said Clark.
“And that fell through. With EI connect I was able to receive my EI throughout the school year and now I can’t even touch the money I paid into it.”
What’s worse, Clark said, is that she has to use the money she saved for the program within 12 months.
“And, of course, those 12 months I’ll be in school, so all that money that was being paid toward EI goes down the drain,” she said.
Funding
To cope with the gaping hole in her budget EI Connect’s shutdown has left, Clark turned to crowd-funding, launching a GoFundMe campaign that raised $1,120.
“I’ve had to beg and plead with people and be like,‘hey, I really need your help because I can’t afford rent and I do receive a student loan but have two kids,” said Clark. She added that the funds the campaign raised will be enough to get her through October.
RELATED: Students Council Says N.B. Is ‘Out Of Touch’ For Cancelling Student EI Program
“I’ve been in worse situations [than] this but this is still really crappy, so I just have to hold on and do my best and figure things out,” said Clark.
“I told myself to take it one month at a time and if that’s what you need to do, that’s what you need to do.”
Clark consulted UNB and was advised to sign up for bursaries and to make sure she had her student loan.
“I got one bursary of $500 for this semester and $500 for the next, but that doesn’t even scratch the surface of my rent,” she said. “It’s something but I’m still very much behind on everything.”
Clark said it will be an interesting year, trying to figure out how to get all her financial needs met.
“Some people I know couldn’t go back to school, because they needed EI Connect and now don’t have it.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].