72nd Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
NEWS RELEASE – EDUCATION MINISTERS CALL ON OTTAWA TO HELP WITH STUDENT DEBT
Ministers of education today called on the federal government to pay its fair share of the costs to all provinces and territories of helping reduce, avoid or make manageable student aid debt.
The ministers, gathered in Saskatoon for a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), noted that federal student loans are responsible for 60% of student debt in jurisdictions that participate in the Canada Student Loans Program and that federal efforts to reduce that debt are relatively small. Ministers noted that the Premiers, at their annual conference in August, had emphasized the importance of access to postsecondary education for all students. Premiers had noted as well the rising student debt in recent years. They also called on the federal government to implement grants for students with dependents, as quickly as possible.
Every province and territory currently has measures to help avoid or reduce student debt. The cost of these measures exceeds $500 million dollars annually and the costs are projected to continue to escalate. The federal government needs to pick up its proportional share.
Ministers said they were pleased to see in today's Speech from the Throne a commitment to increase assistance to students with dependents. "This represents a beginning but it only partially addresses the issue. We will be pursuing this and other measures to help reduce student debt with the federal government as soon as possible," said the Honourable Chester Gillan, Chair of CMEC and Minister of Education for Prince Edward Island.
CMEC is an intergovernmental body made up of the ministers of education and advanced education from the provinces and territories. Through CMEC, ministers share information and undertake projects in areas of mutual interest and concern.
Lara Inglis, CMEC 252 Bloor West, Suite 5-200, Toronto, Canada M5S 1V5 Té1éphone 416-964-2551 Fax 416-964-2296
Tel.: (416) 964-2551, ext. 256
E-mail address: lara@cmec.ca
E-mail: cmec@cmec.ca