Students across Canada protest tuition increases, student debt

Students across Canada protested rising tuition and student debts Wednesday, the same day NPD leadership candidate Peggy Nash released her post-secondary education platform.

The Toronto-area MP was on hand to show support at Vancouver Community College’s downtown campus, where students rallied against the possibility of a 2% tuition increase.

“We shouldn’t be penalizing our young people when they’re starting out in life,” Nash said of the student loans and ensuing debt that graduates often face. “I don’t think that’s fair. Today’s students have debt the size of a mortgage but without the house.”

Nash’s plan includes lowering tuition, converting student loans into non-repayable grants and reducing interest rates on student debt.

“What I’m saying is the federal government can transfer money to the provinces expressly for the purpose of reducing tuition fees,” Nash said, adding while there’s no costing done yet, the proposal is “very possible.”

But not everyone gives Nash’s plan a passing grade, with some blaming students’ sense of entitlement for crying foul on debts.

“There’s definitely a bit of that,” said James Liang, a fifth-year University of B.C. full-time student who works part-time to pay for school.
While Liang welcomes lower tuition, he says it’s a student’s personal decision to take on the burden of debt.
“It seems a bit unfair for some students, who work everyday while attending classes in order to stay debt free, to see others potentially get a free pass of sorts,” he said, suggesting strict conditions be met to prevent students from abusing debt relief.
According to Statistics Canada, undergraduate tuition fees dropped in 2008/2009 but are creeping back up, with B.C. students paying an average of $4,852 this year, an increase of 2% from the previous year.
Across Canada, average tuition fees rose 4.3% to $5,366 this year.