Federal Election 2019: What are the parties’ platforms on post-secondary?

With the federal election on October 21 looming, The Gateway combed through the major federal party platforms to see what they plan to offer post-secondary students.

Here’s each party’s vision on how to improve the post-secondary system.

Conservatives have no plan for tuition, focus on RESP contributions

While the Conservative Party of Canada has yet to release a compiled platform as of publication, from press releases and statements, the party has pledged to increase matched-funding contributions for RESP’s.

If elected, the Conservatives plan to increase matched contributions of the government to the first $500 invested in a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). They would make this increase from ten per cent to 20 per cent if a family’s net income is over $87,907, and from 20 per cent to 40 per cent if it’s below this figure.

NDP pledges to cap tuition, eliminate interest rates on student loans, and make post-secondary part of the public education system 

The New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada made four specific pledges with regards to post-secondary education in their platform, focusing on affordability and closing barriers for Indigenous students.

The NDP platform said the average student in Canada graduates with $27,000 of student debt at the end of their undergraduate degree.

The party’s long-term goal is to make post-secondary education part of the public education system so that “kids can go from kindergarten to a career without the barrier of cost.”

In the meantime, the NDP pledge to work with provinces and territories to reduce and cap tuition fees, eliminate interest rates on student loans, and increase access to non-repayable Canada Student Grants.

The platform also mentioned the NDP would work to address systemic and financial barriers preventing Indigenous students from attending post-secondary through expanded financial assistance and increased opportunities.

Liberals to make more “flexible” and “affordable” student loans

The Liberal Party of Canada made four specific platform promises for post-secondary education in their platform, focusing on better student loans and more money through grants.

Under a Liberal government, students would receive $1,200 more per year through Canada Student Grants. 

Additionally, they would give students two more years after graduation to start paying back student loans interest free. 

The Liberals would also change existing regulations so that graduates would not have to begin repaying their loans until they are making at least $35,000/year, up from the current level of $25,000/year. If a graduate’s income level falls below this, payments would halt.

For students planning to become parents, the Liberals would create a new grace-free period for student loans. To make it easier for parents to focus on family rather than their debt, the Liberals would let new parents stop student loan repayments, interest-free, until their youngest child reaches the age of five. 

Green’s plan to make tuition free and forgive existing student debt held by feds

In the Green Party of Canada’s platform, the party said they would make post-secondary free, help Indigenous students attend university, and forgive student debt held by the federal government.

If elected, the Green’s would make college and university tuition free for all Canadian students. The platform said this would be financed by redirecting all existing spending on bursaries, tuition tax credits, and saved costs of administering student loans towards making tuition free.

Funding for universities would be given through federal-provincial transfers and have a measured focus on increasing student-professor contact, mentorship, policies of inclusion, and tenure-track hiring.

Further, all existing student debt held by the federal government would be forgiven by the Green’s.

The party would remove the two per cent cap on increases in education funding for Indigenous students and afford every Indigenous youth access to post-secondary.

Students not included specifically in People’s Party platform

There are no specific mentions for post-secondary education in the People’s Party of Canada platform.