Some 165,000 B.C. families who registered for the Temporary Education Support Payment program during the B.C. teachers’ strike can expect to get their cheques in the mail this week, says the Ministry of Finance.

Students went back to class on Sept. 22, almost three weeks late, and the provincial government said the accumulated education support funds would be disbursed to parents and caregivers toward the end of October.

B.C. Finance minister Mike de Jong said he recognized that the labour disruption at the beginning of the school year imposed costs on families.

“Our intention with the temporary education support payment was to provide a modest degree of support for parents who incurred most of those costs. As promised, families can expect to receive payment over the coming days,” he said.

The 13 days adds up to $520, and the payment is not taxable.

According to government figures, the cheques mailed this week represent more than half of the nearly 230,000 families that have applied for the payment.

The majority of the remaining payments are expected to be sent out by the end of October and received by families within the next two weeks.

source: cbc