Dozens of high school students, parents and community advocates gathered outside of Kitchener City Hall on Sunday to protest the province’s plan to shift the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), warning the move could push young people deeper into debt and limit access to higher education.

The protest was organized in part by local high school students along with members of the province’s Green and NDP parties.

“I know people that are now reconsidering what they might want to do in university because they just might not be able to afford it anymore,” said Quentin Dunning, a grade 11 student from Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School and one of the protest organizers.

Last month, the province announced changes to the OSAP formula that will take effect this fall.

Currently, students can receive up to 85 per cent of their aid as grants, with the remaining 15 per cent provided through loans. Under the new formula, the province says grants will make up just 25 per cent of student aid, with the rest offered as loans.

Yunus Osman, a grade 12 student at Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener came to the protest because the change has left him feeling “confused” about how he will pursue post-secondary education. He plans to take electrical engineering in the fall.

“With how much programs cost, I honestly will be struggling with debt afterwards,” he said.

Osman, along with two other students, was standing on the corner King Street. and Young Street. collecting signatures for a petition to have the changes reversed.

“It just seems like they’re clueless about the kind of struggles that the average Canadian student is going through,” he said.

Aislinn Clancy, deputy leader of the Green Party of Ontario, attended the rally and led students in various chants.

Clancy helped to organize the protest after receiving a “flood” of emails from young people worried about the change.

“This adds anxiety to a generation of young people who are already under a lot of pressure,” Clancy said. “I’ve been so inspired to see young people organizing,” she said.

The protest also drew representatives from labour and education organizations, including the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the Waterloo Region Labour Council.

Dunning says that while he personally won’t be affected by the changes to OSAP, he still wants to push for more action from his fellow students.

“What’s the difference between me and the person that was born into a less fortunate family?” he said.

“One protest doesn’t do anything. We need to protest day after day after day and keep showing them that we care.”