“We are the future of this province. To prevent us from accessing education without lifelong debt is something we’ll see the consequences of for many years to come.” – Daniel Labonté, rally co-organizers and Niagara, Ontario area student
This News Report prepared by Niagara area student Mahek Rahman for Niagara At Large
Posted March 6th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Sign held high at Niagara rally against Ford government student assistance cuts. photos courtesy of Niagara student Mahek Rahman
Over 150 Niagara high school and university students walked out of class on March 4th to protest the (Ford government’) recently announced OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) cuts.
They rallied in front of St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens office, chanting “Hands Off our education!” and “Save our future! Save our OSAP!” At the rally, the crowd signed petitions created by students, and MPP Stevens alike, and student speakers shared their stories on how the OSAP cuts will harm their education.
This walkout was organized by four local high school students in cooperation with other province-wide protests, such as the Queen’s Park rally in Toronto.
The intention of the walkout was to provide a unified front across Ontario and to show all students, including high school students, opposed the OSAP cuts.
Daniel Labonté, one of the four co-organizers, hopes the provincial government sees student opinion and reconsiders their changes to OSAP. “I want to see the government doing what they were voted in to do: Work FOR the people, not against us,” he said.
“We are the future of this province. To prevent us from accessing education without lifelong debt is something we’ll see the consequences of for many years to come.”
Ontario students already pay some of the highest tuition rates in the country, and these OSAP cuts will cut low-income and marginalized students—those who need the assistance the most—out of higher education.
High school and university students in Niagara, Ontario rally against Ford government student assistance cuts.
“Many other countries have free public university,” Cai Mullin, another co-organizer, said. “We’re not asking for that, but to cut what we already have—in such a drastic way—will cut so many people like me out of the future of this province.”
To watch a related news report aired by CHCH TV News, click on the screen immediately below –
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