Feds Agreed to Pay No More Than $543.5 Million to Have WE Run Student−Volunteer Program

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau appear onstage during WE Day UN in New York City on Sept. 20, 2017. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

OTTAWA—The federal government agreed to pay no more than $543.5 million as part of a deal to have the WE organization run a student-volunteer program that was budgeted to spend hundreds of millions more.

Most of the money—$500 million—was budgeted for grants to students who took part in volunteer opportunities.