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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willc View Drop Down
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    Posted: 02/June/2015 at 10:50am
Hello reader, I'm Will.

I'll skip to the coles notes:
I'm 30 and presently on ODSP / CPP Disability.

A few weeks back I thought I would do the right thing and get my taxes done; $160+tax (4 years). I thought "well I don't have the money but I will be getting some back to cover my costs."

Shortly after receiving all my paperwork from the CRA, more on that shortly, I received a second letter stating that I owed for my student loan and that any taxes made would go directly on it. :/

A little history:
At 4 days old I was diagnosed with Hirshprung's, within a week I was operated on, by my 5th birthday I underwent 17 surgeries. I had another at age 11, and my last one (hopefully) when I was 27.

Turns out the man who diagnosed me lacked the credentials to do so and the media had a hay day with this individual as can be seen here (http://netk.net.au/SmithHome.asp).

Then you have this article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/2007/12/19/smith_botched_sick_kids_cases_inquiry_hears.html  

The scary part is that Barry Shandling was my surgeon and I could have very well been that baby, if not another similar case.

So here I am 30 years later after the medical industry had their run. I attempted college and only lasted 6 months before having to drop out. By then I was internally bleeding and defecating blood. 

Time went on and I thought my quality of life was to be expected (I never knew anything different). I eventually became too ill to work and went on short term disability. See it wasn't until 2009 that they discovered I had a hemoglobin of 49 (should be 150-180) and iron count of <5 (should be 20-200). A blood transfusion accompanied by months and months of weekly iron injections my levels were able to get back to a low normal (80-90 hemoglobin).

From there I moved to BC as a last ditch effort in life.

When I got there I did my best to make ends meet and eventually was unable to work due to my hemoglobin dropping to 57. From there I went on medical ei, and then social assistance, and lastly homeless in 2011.

I was able to barter a website for a plane ticket back to see my family in early 2012. After a week of visiting my family they refused to let me go back to BC (hence losing all my paperwork and requiring to call the CRA) and instead I ended up in Mount Sinai hospital for 45 days. - No one knew what was wrong with me; or what they were looking at in xrays for that matter. (gooooooo medicine!)

Eventually I would have an operation (May 28th 2012) that removed the remainder of my large colon. It sounds simple enough... that is until you discover that during my first 17 surgeries they performed an experimental procedure (by Barry Shandling). They stapled my large and small colon together; what I called my "Frankenstein Intestine." They fused both my large and small colon lengthwise so when I say they removed my large colon, I really mean they cut my large and small apart (lengthwise) and discarded one half and re-stapled the other (my small).

So now I am on ODSP and CPP Disability. 

While I was in the hospital I signed over my power of attorney so someone could investigate my debts, and get everything prepared for going on ODSP/CPP. That is when I was told that they were told my debt was cleared; we assumed for medical reasons OSAP forgave my remaining debt.

Now I discover that I have in debt $6500. I earn $1100 a month. $400 rent. $80 phone and the remainder is food. I became a Celiac because of the leaky gut I lived with for so many years. So now my diet is very restricted: No dairy, caffeine, red meat, nuts (unless turned into a paste), alcohol, etc. Money travels quickly when eating healthy.

I'm looking for my options at this point. I am already investigating whether I was one of the babies that underwent unnecessary surgery.

When I called today it was made to sound like regardless of what I have been through that I will be unable to receive the debt forgiveness.

It is frustrating to say the least. I fight enough with depression in an attempt to find any reason that this life is worth the pain that I continually face, only to keep getting knocked down over and over. Makes me want to "hulk smash," but the grown up in side says that solves nothing and so I sit here in disbelief that such a life could be true.

So here I am reaching out to the internet.

Any help would be appreciated.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SolveStudentDebt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03/June/2015 at 8:09am

The only way a government will set aside a student loan is if the proper demonstrative work and appeal has been done. You certainly fit the criteria of an individual experiencing hardship with not one, but many extenuating circumstances.

I am curious to know what CRA told you. Is this for a federal guaranteed CSL!/CSL2 or federal direct CSL4? Or, did CRA simply tell you that their is a lien in place and that money will be applied towards your student loan without telling you who will be receiving it?


Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting.

solvestudentdebt.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote willc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/August/2015 at 11:13am
I've since been in contact with cra and they want me to fill out a income questionnaire. This includes who I bank with, who my odsp case worker is, any assets, expenses, etc. I feel violated.

I'm concerned they are going to begin garnishing my disability to pay off a 12 year old debt for 5000 (was 4200 in 2009).

My other option is to sign a document and have my doctor fill out a form to clear the debt. The catch being I can never receive another canadian education loan again. For 5000 this seems over the top, especially given my history.

My grandmother bought me my first car in 2014 and paid 6 month of the insurance. She did this after my aunt passed away from cancer. My grandmother felt I deserved the vehicle as I have been too ill to ever afford one. Unfortunately I am now faced with selling it to pay off this debt.

This is criminal and there is no one willing to help.

I now have a federal and provincial debt. One is $5100 and the other $1500.
Where is the justice in this world.... it is infuriating and depressing to say the least. I am a guinea pig for medicine, experimented on as an infant, and then become indebted and stolen from because I attempted a normal life and tried to better myself...
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