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Federal Budget Breakdown

The new federal budget reflects the work of the Students’ Union and other student associations who have been lobbying the federal government on behalf of post-secondary students.

The budget includes a 50 per cent increase to low and middle-income grants, additional funding for youth employment, a lowered student contribution for student loans, a higher threshold for student loan repayment and a $2-billion investment in post-secondary infrastructure.

Overall the budget was good for post-secondary education, SU Vice-President (External) Dylan Hanwell, said.

“It was great to see that we got some investment, especially in student grants as well as youth employment.” Hanwell said.

The new budget adds $165 million in funding for the Youth Employment Strategy and $73 million for co-op and integrated learning for science, engineering and business students. This funding is in addition to the $339 million already committed to the Canada Summer Jobs Program for the next three years.

Students with loans will be able to wait a little longer to pay them back, as the minimum salary required to repay loans has been increased to $25,000 in the new budget. In the past, graduates making less than $20,210 a year did not have to make payments on their student loans.

While student loan repayment won’t be required for graduates with lower salaries, more clarity is needed for the students’ flat contribution for loans, Hanwell said. At the moment contribution rates depend on how much money a student or their parents make, but while a change to a flat rate has been announced an amount has not been set.

Leading up to the budget, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) focused a lot of their lobbying efforts on student grants. Those efforts contributed to the budget’s announcement of a 50 per cent increase to low and middle-income grants, to begin in the 2017-2018 academic year. Grants help increase access to post-secondary education for low-income students as they can make tuition affordable in the first place, Hanwell said.

The increased funding for grants will partially come from the elimination of education and textbook tax credits, which the SU and the national lobby group have campaigned against. Students in need won’t benefit from tax credits as much because they only help retroactively, Hanwell said. Similar to mail-in rebates, tax credits only provide assistance after tuition and books have been paid for — that doesn’t help students who can’t afford those resources in the first place.

Funding for graduate student research, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research, saw a slight increase this year. This increase was one of the things CASA was pushing for as it lobbied the federal government.

The most visible impact of the budget on the U of A will be in the form of infrastructure, Hanwell believes. A new Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund with a $2-billion dollar contribution from the federal government will cover up to 50 per cent of the costs of projects including new labs, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified buildings, and business support companies.

While these changes are clear, funding for aboriginal students remains murky.

“We’re still waiting to get some more clarity on things like aboriginal education especially for post-secondary,” Hanwell said.

Hanwell was impressed by the billion-dollar commitment to aboriginal education in this budget, but only primary and secondary education are addressed. Post-secondary education funding for aboriginal students is not included in the budget but Hanwell hopes the investment goes into programs like the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) which provides financial aid to First Nation and Inuit post-secondary students.

As the federal lobby group moves forward it will focus on implementing policy changes and making sure that money from the government works for students, Hanwell said. In the meantime, he hopes the upcoming provincial budget will offer a similar level of support for post-secondary.

“I think the biggest thing that we saw from this budget is a great step forward for post-secondary in the country.” Hanwell said. “More than anything we’re hoping that the province sees this as a path to follow when it comes, especially, to student grants.”

Sofia Osborne

Sofia is a fourth-year English major with a minor in philosophy. She's been writing for The Gateway since the first day of her first year because she wants to be Rory Gilmore when she grows up. Now, she's the Managing Editor and is in charge of the print magazine.

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