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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    Posted: 04/April/2012 at 3:40am
 
 

Grim employment prospects for students

 

Canada's youth jobless rate a staggering 14.7 per cent - double the national figure

 
By KATHERINE WILTON, The Gazette April 4, 2012
 
Students marching in the streets against the rising cost of a university education could face an added challenge paying for their degrees: unemployment.

According to Statistics Canada, the youth jobless rate in Canada is 14.7 per cent for those aged 15 to 24 - almost double the national rate of 7.4 per cent. "We are at the bottom of the chain when it comes to jobs," said Roxanne Dubois, president of the Canadian Federation of Students. "We depend on being able to work for four months to be able to pay for a portion of those tuition fees."

The jobless figures are worrisome because many students need work to help pay for tuition fee increases, said Martine Desjardins, president of the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec.

Students are also facing competition from older workers who are remaining in the workforce and are being increasingly employed in fields popular with students, such as the retail sector.

"The economic recovery has been almost non-existent for young Canadians," economist Francis Fong of TD Economics said in a recent study on labour-force trends. "They (those aged 15-24) accounted for more than half of all net job losses during the recession and employment still stands some 250,000 below its pre-recession peak."

Although the jobless figures appear grim for students under 25, the statistics show that the employment picture is a bit rosier once students obtain a university degree. The unemployment rate for university graduates between 25 and 29 in Quebec is six per cent. In the rest of Canada, it's 6.3 per cent for that cohort.

However, some analysts speculate that the number is low because many students, frustrated with job prospects, have stopped looking for work and have returned to school to pursue a second degree.

Enrolment in undergraduate and graduate programs has increased since the economic downturn in 2008, Fong says in the TD study. Even with university degrees in their pockets, Fong wrote that "new Canadian graduates will face challenging labour market conditions for several more years."

The provincial government wants to raise tuition fees $1,625 over five years, or $325 a year, bringing university tuition in Quebec to $3,793. Premier Jean Charest says the decision to increase tuition fees was made after "decades" of consultation and that Quebec fees will still be among the lowest in Canada after the increases. Charest has said the move is being made to make Quebec universities more competitive.

Students who struggle financially can receive loans up to a maximum of $3,645 a year. But Dubois contends that what students need is lower tuition, not more loans which will keep them indebted for years after they graduate.

"We expect youth to graduate and get a job and contribute to the Canadian economy," Dubois said. "But, you can't do that if you are $30,000 in debt. You are not going to buy a house or a car or do anything that is going to keep the economy rolling."

Éric Martin, a researcher with the Institut de recherche et d'informations socioéconomique, contends the Quebec government is increasing tuition fees because it wants to steer students away from humanities programs, such as philosophy and history, because they aren't perceived as being valuable in a technologybased economy.

"If you give them too much choice they end up going into the arts, which for government isn't that useful," he said, claiming the government wants students to concentrate their studies in the fields of engineering, science and biotechnology. "The increase in student debt will have an effect on the choice of students. They will decide what programs to enter based on salary."

The institute also released a study last week warning of a possible student debt "bubble" on the horizon, noting that as the government encourages students to take out more loans to finance their education, many could eventually find themselves facing default when interest rates inevitably rise.

When hunting for jobs this summer, students will no longer be able to visit the federal government job centres. Ottawa is closing its youth employment centres because young students are looking for summer jobs hunting online. Students can still go to youth.gc.ca to look for work. The cost-cutting measure will save about $6.5 million.

The president of the Concordia Student Union said many students are worried about finding work over the summer. "Some end up in precarious jobs working in boiler rooms or telemarketing jobs," said Lex Gill.

kwilton@ montrealgazette.com



Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Grim+employment+prospects+students/6406850/story.html#ixzz1r5BdquTG
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