Liberals propose making student loans interest-free for two years after graduation and promise graduates won’t have to pay until they earn over $35,000 annually. The party also proposes allowing parents to pause loan payments with no interest until their youngest kid turns five. It plans to boost the maximum Canada Student Grants for full-time students from $3,000 to $4,200.
Conservatives have promised a boost to the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) that would raise contributions from 20 per cent to 30 per cent for every dollar invested up to $2,500 a year, to a maximum of $750 a year. The party would create a post-school jobs program for international students to help them stay in Canada.
The NDP’s goal is to work towards free university and college tuition. To get there, they say they’ll work with provinces and territories to put a cap on and reduce tuitions. The party says it will eliminate federal interest rates on student loans and put more money into Canada Student Grants. It also wants to expand the education benefit from veterans and implement a national school nutrition program.
Greens want to get rid of university and college tuition — and forgive any existing federal student debt. The party wants to make sure all Indigenous students have access to post-secondary education while expanding curriculum on Indigenous education overall. It would boost funding for training new immigrants in English and French and supports a national school lunch program.
The Bloc wants larger transfer payments to provinces and territories to help pay for education and finance more university research.
Leader Maxime Bernier feels the federal government intervenes too much in education and calls it “provincial jurisdiction.” But he has yet to outline exactly what he would do to change the current system.
Find out more about the promises parties are making in our party platform tracker.
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