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: 08/June/2009 at 6:03am
Hi all,

I have just found these forums after recently reengaging these fine people that work in the student loan industry. I'm hoping to get some thoughts on my situation, and possibly some advice on the best way to proceed from here.

So, here's a brief description of my story so far.

- I started repaying my student loans around 2000, and have been living in the US since then.
- Because of my US residence, I've always made payments by postdated check. I would usually send them a years worth at a time and they would be cashed each month.
- So, some time in 2007, it appears that my checks to CIBC had run out. (Much of this is from memory, so is a little vauge)
- In early 2008, I received a call from CIBC collections dept., stating that my loans were about to default. The gave me the option of paying off the loans for an amount less than the balances (If I recall correctly), or to pay the interest and continue making interest only payments. The lady I spoke with gave me several days to assess my finances and get back to her with my desired payment method.
- I was able to come up with the amount of money they were requesting, so called them back to get the information I needed to wire them the funds via Western Union. (which was discussed as the preferred method of getting them money from the US).
- After numerous phone calls over several weeks, I never got to speak with them, and never received a return phone call.
- After then going on vacation for a couple of weeks, I never did resume my pursuit to contact them, and other life issues consumed my attention. I never did get in contact with CIBC again after that.
- Fast forward to May, 2009. We're moving back to Canada and have applied for a mortgage, at which time we discover that both of my loans have been written off (level 9 deliquency - or whatever the proper term is), and they are currently on my Equifax credit report.
- Starting May 11th, I start trying to contact CIBC collections about the loans. I was told to speak with Allison, so proceeded to attempt to contact her. The closest I've gotten to speak with her was though another representative who walked to her desk and relayed messages between us. He was able to give me the loan amounts at least.
- I stated to him that I would still like to discuss the loans with Allison, and asked if she would still be contacting me. His response was "probably not".
- Between that time and now, I've left numerous voicemails on Allison's phone, describing my situation and giving all related info, asking her to please return my call. I never got a return phone call. In fact, after finally trying to reach her through other methods, another representative agreed to call her line for me. After she spoke with Allison, she assured me that Allison would be calling me back shortly. Of course, no phone call ever came.
- Now, last Friday (June 5th), I get a call from Metropolitan Collections, saying that they had just received my accounts in their office in June 3rd, and CIBC is requesting that they be paid in full.
- So, instead of taking the time to return my phone call, CIBC decided instead to put their energy towards transferring my file to a collections agency.

My goal here, is to have these loans taken care of. I have no problem paying them, but also feel that I should have the entries removed completely from my credit report. It's my feeling that as I made numerous attempts to make the payment back in 2008, I should not be held responsible for the loans defaulting. I'm hesitant to make any payments on the loans until I can get some reassurance to that effect, but it's been impossible to get in contact with anyone to discuss them.

It's seems utterly wrong that CIBC could ignore my attempts to contact them, let the loans sit there for over a year, and then when I initiate action to try and contact them and resolve things, ignore me again and then send my accounts to collections.

Any advice on how to proceed here? Is there anything I should be doing to cover myself going forward?

Thanks in advance.

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