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.


  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Feeling Stressed Out
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login


Forum LockedFeeling Stressed Out

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
whalefan View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 10/November/2007
Location: Canada
Points: 2
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whalefan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Feeling Stressed Out
    Posted: 10/November/2007 at 2:09pm
Hi! I'm new here, I'm 36 and single, and also have had my frustrations with loans. I received Ontario ($3,600) and Canada Student Loans ($16,000) from Scotia Bank back in 2000. I ended up graduating from my course, but couldn't find a half decent paying job in it unless I moved to Southern Ontario. I tried to make payments, I did, and for a while I was doing it. It was $65 a month for the OLS and roughly $200 for the CSL. I had managed to get a job at a call centre, and asked for Interest Relief. I was making about $900 a month, but had to pay $450 in rent, etc. When I received the letter that I didn't qualify, I phoned and the clerk told me I made $10 too much to qualify. I still tried to pay them, but after a while, I ended up having to leave my job and I stopped paying them. I ended up on Social Assistance (a.k.a. Ontario Works). I closed the account with Scotia, because I wasn't happy about the fees I was being charged.
 
Admittedly, yes, I did move around a lot due to a bad luck with apartments and landlords, but always tried to keep everyone up to date with my address.  I was unemployed until 2002, when I got a job as a stockperson at a retail store working for minimum wage. Due to other debts, I ended up claiming bankruptcy in June of 2004, and was told that I had to wait another 6 years before I could claim the loans.
 
I ended up leaving my job in January of 2005, due to health issues. I was on sick leave from EI, then I went on Ontario Works. In February, I got my first collection letter from the Government about my student loan. I called the number and found that Nordon had my OSL, but when I tried to find out about my CSL, nobody could help me. So for the 3 1/2 years, I have been making a $25 monthly payment on a now $4810 loan. In December of 2006, after 1 1/2 years of fighting, I finally got onto Ontario Disability (ODSP). Now I make a little more than $800 a month ($200 of that is alloted for special diet needs, and I live in geared to income housing).
 
Now - last week, I get a call from some guy in British Colombia working for Creditors Interchange, telling me that I need to make some arrangements because I am now $23,000 + in debt for my CSL. "Would you be able to ask your family or friends for the money?" Ahhhh. NO! Nobody I know has that kind of change hanging around. I explained to him that I was on Ontario Disability (ODSP), and that I would never be able to work and that would be my income forever. Period. He told me about some exemption I might qualify for, and gave me some phone number for Scotia Bank, who in turn gave me a phone number for Can Learn.  I didn't qualify for the exemption, because I got disabled well after before I finished school, not before. Would someone care to explain to me how you are supposed to know when you are going to become disabled? So after I learn that, I wait for this "supposed paperwork" that is suppose to come so I can start making payments, even though I told them it would only be $25 a month. ( His response - "That will hardly do anything!")
 
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, I get a call from a woman, this time, from Creditor's Interchange, telling me that I need to make arrangements to pay off this $23,000+ loan. We started to yell at each other. I pointed out how much I made a month, the fact I talk to someone from her company the week before and that no, no matter how hard I tried I can't come up with the money, even though she said that "It will be fowarded to our legal division, since you haven't responded to our notices!" I told her "How the hell can I respond when I never received any notices, you've only had my address for a week." Dead silence. "What about a bank loan to pay it off?" she asked. I told about the bankruptcy, and that I had no assets to use for a loan. No car. No house. Just an apartment. Silence again. I told her that $25 was all I could afford, and she gave me the address to send it. The next day (Wed.) I went to the post office, got a $25 money order and sent it (made sure it had a tracking number).  Next day, I get a phone call from "her" - asking me if I sent the money. (Even though it annoyed me she called, she was much nicer, once I had stood my ground and not be pushed around.) I told her it would be there the next day.
 
I am now awaiting the phone call at the end of the month. They never made any attempts to find me until the phone call last week. I have my credit report to prove that, and I've had the same phone number for 10 years, and lived in the same spot for three years.
 
I still have concerns. Can they still take my GST and Income Tax, even if I am making payments? Can they take money out of my bank account? (It's not the one I put the loan through, it's at a safe bank - so to speak) I used a post office money order so they couldn't find out where I banked. I know the legal action and finding other avenues for the money is illegal for them to suggest, but she said something about the loan being knocked down if I made consistent payments. Is this true? or another line of bs? Is there any other avenue I can take besides claiming the bankruptcy in three years, (when the ten year limit is up)? I'm just tired of feeling like crap that I don't have the money to get rid of these guys once and for all. It's frustrating and degrading. If anyone has suggestions - they would be more than welcomed. Thanks for listening.
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
SolveStudentDebt View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group
Avatar

Joined: 05/November/2003
Location: Canada
Points: 5996
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SolveStudentDebt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/November/2007 at 3:09am
Private loan providers have no authority to anchor liens with respect to income tax and GST rebates. Only Crown corporations and Provncial governments are able to enforce those.
 
Do you want some help dealing with this matter?
 
Johnny
Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting.

solvestudentdebt.com
Back to Top
whalefan View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 10/November/2007
Location: Canada
Points: 2
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote whalefan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/November/2007 at 8:00am
Yes, please! I would be most grateful if you could.
 
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.07
Copyright ©2001-2024 Web Wiz Ltd.