The Bursary for Students with Disabilities and the Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment for Persons with Permanent Disabilities (BSWD/CSG-PDSE) is a provincial and federal bursary administered by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
Students with a permanent disability are eligible to receive up to $10,000 (up to $2,000 in provincial funding and $8,000 in federal funding) towards the cost of disability-related services (e.g. note-takers, tutors) or accessible software (e.g. screen-reading software, voice-recognition software), hardware (e.g. trackball mouse, headphones) and other assistive technologies (such as scanners, CCTVs, and printers). However, students must meet a list of eligibility criteria in order to access this funding.
One of the main concerns raised by students is the lack of transparency in the adjudication and administration of the Bursary. Students are also unclear on how decisions about the amounts that they are awarded are made. Further, there is no appeals process in place at the Ministry where students can challenge funding decisions.
Students for Barrier-free Access is currently conducting a research and information campaign about the BSWD/CSG-PDSE. Through a Freedom of Information request, SBA has received all of the instructional manuals published by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities that guide the administration of the BSWD/CSG-PDSE. The manual contains information about the bursary’s eligibility criteria, the financial administration of the bursary program, information on receipt submission and repayment, as well as the funding caps for all equipment and services.
Read our article on the BSWD/CSG-PDSE published in Action Speaks Louder here
View our presentation on the SBA BSWD Information Campaign:
PowerPoint: BSWD information campaign presentation
Presentation text in Word: BSWD Information Campaign Presentation
To find out more about the BSWD/CSG-PDSE program, to view the manuals, or to get involved with the BSWD campaign, please contact board@uoftsba.com
Students for Barrier-Free Access 