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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almostfamous View Drop Down
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    Posted: 03/May/2015 at 1:05pm
Hi there, here from Ontario - I started college in September 2005 with OSAP, dropped out January 2007. Never paid a dime towards student loans since. Too many odd jobs and moved about 20 times. Could never really afford to pay rent plus necessities let alone pay off loans that never gave me a job. 


Tried school again in September 2008 dropping out in December 2009 due to financial hardship - all paid out of pocket - no assistance applied for at all. Still at this point have never returned calls or acknowledged those old OSAP student loans. Not even sure which address they had on file, had moved so many times since 2004, I was sure they had lost track of me.


Now, being the hopeless wanderer I am, always taking odd jobs just to get by and take me on to the next place, I stopped filing taxes after 2006 - afraid the student loans people would find me. 


Well after 10 years of being the crazy girl I was, I finally settled down with a good man, and we are excitedly expecting a baby come early July of 2015. 


With that comes buy a house and trying to get my financial life in order. I also know that to apply for the “baby bonus” etc, I need my tax information from the previous year. 


Well, I called CRA and asked for all my T4’s to be sent to my house from the last time I submitted taxes, they arrived quickly in a huge package. I was ready to go get my taxes all in order. 


Then I received a letter in the mail stating that CRA plans to take my taxes to apply to a student loan. 


HALT! I am not going to go submit my taxes just to have CRA take the small amount I may receive back, as I am sure they won’t even amount to the interest on my $12000 loan. 


So I have been frantically searching the internet of possible solutions. Can this loan be discharged? I am currently not working, nor will I be eligible for maternity leave and we are living off of my man’s income. 


I did come across an article on theglobeandmail from March 2015 that the Canadian Government is discharging some 300 million worth of defaulted student loans from 2008 and before.


What is my best step next? I don’t want to pay these loans if there is a possibility to have them discharged. Nor do I want to submit my taxes until I know it is my only option, especially because I fear it will restart the “7 or 10 year discharge rule” 


Preferably I do not want to pay them at all. How do I find out if they were discharged by the government automatically? Or find information on what I owe at all - I am sure they have been broken up and sold out at this point, I get harassed by 1800 numbers I refuse to pick up quite often. But with interest, I don't even know what the total amount is I owe. 


Sorry for all the questions, this is very overwhelming and there seems to be an abundance of confusing advice out there.


Thank you in advance for any advice you give! 

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studentmess View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote studentmess Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/May/2015 at 6:54am
You want to buy a house, but you don't want to pay your loans??   Unless the system really harmed you, that isn't cool!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/May/2015 at 1:44pm
Very good point Studentmess.   If you can now pay your student loans, you should pay them back...

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote almostfamous Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/May/2015 at 1:56pm
Sorry, I did not include enough information. I cannot pay my student loans. I also cannot buy a house. I have no income or savings. I haven't had income since getting pregnant.

 If a house was going to be bought, it is because my SO's parents would be purchasing it for us to live in and absorbing it into one of their properties (they own two properties currently and rent them out) We are living in a single income family right now and my SO makes less than 45k a year, has debts he has to pay off, as well provide for his family.

I was more speaking of the future and trying to get my financials in order so after our little one is born and no longer needs full-time home care, I can get back to work and start making a second income for our family. And maybe one day, in a far away time, buy a house with my own credit....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote almostfamous Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04/May/2015 at 2:40pm
Sorry for the extra posts, this site won't let me edit my other posts.

Anyway - trust me, if I had the money, (or won some lottery money!), I would pay off all my debts including the useless student loans that brought me no degrees, and only headaches. If I had the money or the means to get the money, I wouldn't have posted in this forum looking for help and guidance.

Nothing I would enjoy more in this world than making it go away and stop giving me stress nightmares every time the phone rings. "Oh here, I will sell you my computer I bought with the student loan in 2005, it doesn't work anymore - but it is the only thing I have worth selling!" Haha!

I do not have a car, nor do I have any assets I could sell off. As mentioned in my original post, I usually worked odd jobs, such as waitressing or sold my skills to people needing help with their computers or facebook pages. Never a career. Never made an income worth enough to save or to buy assets. I believe my savings account has $0.05 in it at this moment. Wooo!



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SolveStudentDebt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/May/2015 at 4:46am
What sort of result are you seeking?
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 almostfamous Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/May/2015 at 1:49pm
Hi Johnny,

What I am looking for:

1. I would really like to know if they are part of the loans the government have automatically discharged from 2008 and before. Where do I find this information without "acknowledging the loan"?

2. If they have not been/will not be discharged this way, what would be my next step? A consumer proposal or bankruptcy have crossed my mind to start fresh. I wouldn't know where to start. I also do not want to submit my taxes until I know what to do about my loans, incase submitting them "acknowledges the loan" starting the clock on them again.


I looked up my credit report on Transunion (still waiting on equifax) - and for the student loan it says the balance owing is "$0" but the account has been transferred - so I am not sure what that means or if the loan is still out there somewhere. I am very new at dealing with all of this - so please bear with me! I am just at the point where I would rather see them discharged if that is a possibility, because I don't see myself having any income to pay them down for 2-3 years, at least, with the baby on the way and staying home with it living off a single income from my boyfriend.
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