A petition which has garnered over 47,000 signatures asking the government to freeze student debt due to the pandemic’s impact on students finances was introduced in the House of Commons on Jan. 28.
Brandon Rhéal Amyot, a third-year political science student at Lakehead University in Orillia, Ont, started the petition—called #DontForgetStudents—in July 2020.
After five years of post-secondary education, Amyot has allocated $30,000 in personal debt. They said the burden of student debt has increased during the pandemic.
“I could spend the next 15 years after that trying to pay off that debt,” Amyot said. “That’s 15 years where I don’t get to save for a car or house. I don’t get to really invest in my community.”
Half of students who graduated in 2015 reported that they had student debt, with a median debt of $17,500, according to Statistics Canada.
As of 2018, Canadian students collectively owed over $28 billion in student loans to all levels of government.
“Education is supposed to be a great equalizer but, because we have a profit-based model in post-secondary education in Canada, students came into this pandemic already on a bad foot and it’s difficult enough to pay off those student loans in good times,” Amyot said.
In November 2020, a motion was put forward in the House of Commons to freeze student loan payments. Although the motion initially passed, the decision was later overturned and the government only resolved to pause interest on student loans for the duration of 2021.
#Don’tForgetStudents has demanded student eligibility for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and a moratorium on student loan repayment and interest until May 1, 2021.
Instead of eligibility for CERB, students received the $9 billion Canadian Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) between May and August 2020. However, over $2 billion of CESB was left untouched as some students did not access it for the full four months.
The petition is sponsored by Victoria MP Laurel Collins, who said she got involved because of her personal experience with student debt. Collins said she owed approximately $40,000 in student loans after graduating from the University of King’s College in Halifax in 2006.
“There’s a lot of really strong policy recommendations in the petition and I think that each one of them is going to take sustained pressure to make sure that we actually get students and recent graduates the support that they need now,” Collins said.
Katlyn Kotila, former vice-president of education for the Laurentian University Students’ General Association in Sudbury, Ont., said student debt in Canada should be frozen because many recent graduates cannot find employment during the pandemic.
Kotila said she is often approached by Laurentian students who, due to their debt, are struggling with food insecurity and are considering dropping out of their post-secondary education. She said these conversations with students inspired her involvement with #Don’tForgetStudents.
“At the end of the day, there are going to still be people who are not able to find jobs [and] unable to pay this debt and I think that the government should be taking a look at that and finding relief for everyone,” she said.
Kotila said although CESB is “fantastic” and “definitely beneficial,” it is not enough for post-secondary students.
In an email to the Charlatan, Marielle Hossack, press secretary for Carla Qualtrough, minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, said the government “will continue to monitor and respond to the economic impacts of COVID-19” with regards to reducing student debt.
As the petition was officially introduced to the House of Commons on Jan. 28, the government now has 45 calendar days to respond, which Amyot said they hope will result in concrete action.
“The better off students are, the more supported they are and recent graduates [also], the better off our communities are,” Amyot said.
Featured graphic by Etta Gerrits
