UWaterloo, UAlberta, UCalgary support essential work, mental health care, businesses

Three postsecondary institutions have recently announced new initiatives to address the needs created by the pandemic. The University of Waterloo has announced that it will pay its employees their regular salary if they work in frontline positions at organizations such as long-term care homes and shelters. Eligible employees will be able to provide full or part-time help in essential areas for up to five weeks. The University of Calgary has developed three free virtual counselling programs that will see counselling psychology masters students providing mental health supports to Albertans who are struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the University of Alberta, students are partnering with local, small businesses to help them develop their online presence and grow more comfortable with e-commerce so they can support themselves through the pandemic. The program is being conducted in partnership with Businesslink and Digital Mainstreet, and is supported by a $960K investment from the provincial government. The Record (UWaterloo)| Edmonton Journal (UAlberta)| CBC (UCalgary) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.