Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken the wraps off a program aimed at encouraging students to volunteer in the fight against COVID-19.

At his briefing in Ottawa on Thursday morning, Trudeau launched the new Canada Student Grant which awards money to students who volunteer for COVID-19-related community projects.

“If you’re a college or university student, or if you just graduated and you are volunteering this summer, you could get a grant of between $1,000 and $5,000,” announced Trudeau. “The exact amount will depend on how many hours you’ve completed.”

While the prime minister gave more details of the grant, the program was actually announced about two months ago.

In addition to the student grant through the Canada Summer Jobs program, he also spoke about funding for $5,000 “My Tax” internships for post-secondary students.

“Usually, My Tax caters to masters or Ph.D. research students. But with the funding we are announcing today, they’ll expand their internship opportunities to undergraduate students and students in professional programs like law, medicine or business.”

Trudeau said if we want a strong economy, we have to invest in the next generation.

(CJGX)