This website is a testimony to the problems Canadian Student Loan borrowers experienced from approximately 1996 to 2008 and until their loans were paid off.

The privatization of the Student Loans system by the Chretien and Martin Liberal governments broke the system and defaulted thousands of borrowers who were trying to pay their loans. There were even stories of suicide due to the harassment of borrowers.

Read the report that I prepared back in 2007 here. Canada Student Loans-The Need for Change Fortunately the new Conservative government at the time revamped the program and fixed the system for new borrowers, but borrowers under the previous program were left with ruined credit and continued harassment from debt collectors.

I call on the Canadian Government to apologize to the borrowers affected by this fiasco and make amends.

Unfortunately the Liberal government is again clobbering the Education system with their upcoming changes to International Student Visas. Yes, there's a problem, but instead of a well thought out plan, they have pulled the emergency brake on the train causing a derailment. This has introduced unprecedented instability for both private and public education institutions who serve both international and local students.

Universities can't plan. I've heard of courses being cut because the government has no process in place for universities to send the newly required acceptance letters to the government.

This means that students who have been accepted can not attend courses that start in the summer 2024 semester. With cut sections, current Canadian students will have trouble getting courses, and may have to switch to part-time which changes their enrollment status and might trigger repayment of their loans or ineligibility for funding. I've seen this before. It wreaks havoc on the student loan borrowers.

Again, the Liberal government has messed up the education environment. Will the new system needed in a rush for the acceptance letters be the new Arrivecan scandal?

I call on the government to implement a slower phased in approach and delay the requirement of the acceptance letters until a process is in place to submit these letters.


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Soberguy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Soberguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Newbie Help
    Posted: 16/July/2007 at 8:43am
New to the forum and tryind desperately to plow through all the information here - what a fantastic resource!  Still, I find myself a little lost, so I thought I'd let you know my situation and get some advice on what (if anything) I can do to ease the burden.
 
I graduated university in 1995 or 1996 with a fair amount of debt.  I kept up with my payments for about 2 years with the bank, but then moved in with my now ex-wife and underwent some serious financial hardships.  Essentially, the student loans got pretty much ignored completely for a time until it went to collection agencies and they caught up with me.  I made small but regular payments for years before suddenly finding out that the Canada student loan I had been paying was only a PORTION of the total amount.  They had for some reason split the Canada loan and I was totally unaware of the other portion until it had ballooned into an $11,000 unpaid nightmare which hit me just as I was making progress on the others.  Anyhow, I have continued to make small monthly payments on each for the last few years, but am not making much headway.  I still owe about $15,000 in total.
 
I've separated from my wife and between child support, bills, transportation and $350/month to my student loans, I can't afford to pay rent on a 3 bedroom place, and so I'm stuck living with my folks for now.  I pull down about $2500 net / month, but am somewhat desperate to get back to the city where my kids live.  My credit was wrecked by the ex but I am close to getting everything on my report cleared, after a year of paying through the nose.
 
Any options open to me, or should I just commit to some sort of consolidation loan and try to slog it out for the next few years with the bank?
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samantha View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote samantha Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17/July/2007 at 12:56pm

Hi Soberguy:

Who are you dealing with collection agency and bank wise?
 
In what province are you?
 
You may want to check some other thread here, as they give you more info as to how the collection agencies are behaving (I'm dealing with a very aggresive one right now, NCO out of Vancouver).
 
After you read through, you can decide if you can go at it alone or if you need to contact someone for help.
 
In any case, we are always here to help and do some brainstorming together.
 
Good luck....
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Soberguy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Soberguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18/July/2007 at 4:48am

The loan was through Scotia originally, but it has been in collections for a long time now.  As long as I keep sending cheques, I thankfully get very little grief from the collection agencies (Total Credit Recovery and CBCL).  Also, I am in Ontario.

 
I've been trying to pour through threads here and found some forms for debt relief, but had a few questions:
 
A)  If I make regular payments, but through a collection agency, am I in default?  I mean, I'm paying less than the minimum on my large CSL currently, so I'm not sure how that effects my eligibility.
 
B)  How do I know if I've exhausted all my relief options?  I have never applied for interest relief - would I have to do that first?  I almost would rather skip that step as it will only delay the inevitable and I'd like to get it sorted out before I move back to Hamilton.  My fear is doing the relief period, moving back before it ends and then not getting a debt reduction - meaning now I'm paying full rent + the loans, which I cant do.
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Buff View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Buff Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19/July/2007 at 10:22am
A - Yes, you're in default. It happened when the loan was first sent to collection. You're paying, which is good, but until it's paid off or until hell freezes over and the bank takes the loan back, you'll remain in default.
 
B - Don't bother applying for interest relief. It's not an option. In order to get it, your loans have to be in good standing, aka not in default. All the stuff that could actually help a struggling borrower is not available to them after default.
 
Yeah, I'm a cheerful one, aren't I?
 
If you can get a consolidation loan at a decent rate, I'd say go for it.
 
Buff
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Soberguy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20/July/2007 at 6:55am
I was afraid that was probably the case, but just thought I'd check. 
 
It is fairly ridiculous that once your loan hits default, you are forever screwed with respect to debt reduction.  I mean, if I could afford to make my regular payments with the bank, then I wouldn't NEED a reduction.
 
Anyhow, I'll be looking into a consolidation loan later this month and pay it all back the hard way.  Thanks anyhow for the help, guys, and keep up the fight.
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Mahrite View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mahrite Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/January/2008 at 10:56am
Hi Soberguy,
 
I'm in the same case of yours. Mine just went to collection. A friend of mine that works for OSAP told me to pay the collection for 6 months and call back OSAP and asked for loan rehapation what it is that the OSAP will take back the loan from collection agency and then you could apply for student interest relief. After you're done with your interest relief, apply for dept reduction. Good luck.
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