With students across Canada facing more than $15billion in student debt, all of the political parties are now focusing on how they can make education more affordable.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) has argued that there is a need to make post-secondary education more affordable. To do this they aim to directly target the skyrocketing tuition costs with a designated $800 million transfer to the provinces and territories to lower tuition fees. They also aim to increase the funding in the Canada Student Grants Program “by $200 million a year, targeting accessibility for Aboriginal, disabled and low-income students, in particular”. The NDP has also said that they would “raise the education tax credit from $4,800 per year to $5,760 per year to help with increasing education costs.”

The Liberal Party of Canada has proposed to introduce the Canadian Learning Passport, which could mean a significant financial boost for higher education delivered directly to families. This plan “will provide $1,000 a year over four years for every high school student in Canada to use for college, university or CÉGEP”. For students in low income families, the amount will be $1,500 a year, or an extra $6,000 in total. All parents will have to do is open a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). The Learning Passport does not require any contribution from parents in order to be obtained. This will be a new federal investment of $1 billion annually.

The Conservative Party of Canada has said that they will take “action to provide greater support for Canadian Students”. They have already established the Canada Student Grants Program for low- and middle-income students, part-time students, students with dependents, and students with permanent disabilities as well as making scholarships and bursaries tax-free, introduced a tax-credit for textbooks, and increased investments in the Canada Graduate Scholarships Program.

The Green Party has said that they are committed to making post-secondary education more accessible. They aim to “develop a Youth Community and Environment Service Corps that will provide federal minimum wage employment for 40,000 youth aged 18 – 25 every year for four years for a total of 160,000 youth positions”. At the end of each year-long programme, there will be a $4,000 tuition credit awarded to each participant that can be applied to further education and training.

In order to get students more involved in the elections and to encourage them to use their vote, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) has launched the Studentsneedtovote.ca website. The aim is to provide information on how to vote, political party platforms as well as informative blogs and links to Twitter feeds for each party.

The election is to be held on Monday 2^nd May.

Termed a guarantee programme, the university will offer unemployed students another year of courses, all for free, if they are unable to find employment in their field. The university will pay for any courses undertaken by unemployed graduates.

“The whole idea is to not only help you maintain a successful path in your academics but to expose you and make you marketable, employable,” said Barbara Pollock, Vice President of External Relations at the University.

To qualify for the scheme, students will be expected to maintain a 70% grade average and partake in career counseling to help them get ahead in the job market.

“We’re not guaranteeing a job,” continued Pollock. “What we’re doing is saying that if you aren’t in a meaningful role that you’ve been studying for and aiming for over the last four years, in six months after graduation we will guarantee a year’s worth of honing skills that you may have found that you’re lacking.”

To read the full report at Macleans OnCampus, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about higher education in Canada, visit www.i-studentadvisor.com/canada to read our online Canada magazine.