E-7090: Petition to the Government of Canada — Canadian Petition Tracker
Canonical URL: https://petitiontracker.ca/petition/e-7090
Track petition E-7090 — "Petition to the Government of Canada" sponsored by Leah Gazan. 9,213 signatures and counting. See signature growth trends and provincial breakdown on PetitionTracker.ca.
Petition Text
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
• After July 2026, the Canada Student Financial Assistance program will return to 2016 levels, when tuition was 20% lower, student rent 40% lower, and food 30% lower;
• The cuts will affect up to 70% of Canadian families with children, most earning under $130,000 a year, alongside students with children and students with disabilities;
• Expansions of the program have significantly boosted enrollment among students from the lowest 40% of household incomes;
• Even with current assistance levels, over 3% of domestic students already suffer from homelessness, and 36% skip meals due to cost;
• 28% of recipients still have unmet needs, which would rise to 55% if funding returned to $3000, risking post-secondary access for 180,000 students and cutting support for over 700,000 in the program;
• The government has found that each dollar spent produces $1.64 in societal returns in the first 10 years;
• The post-secondary sector requires domestic student enrollment more than ever after changes in international student policy;
• Cutting student assistance would represent cutting in a sector demonstrated to dramatically increase economic productivity; and
• Program levels are set manually by the government instead of adjusting automatically with inflation.
We, the undersigned, current and future students, parents and concerned Canadians, call upon the Government of Canada to address the long-term affordability of students through a permanent expansion of the Canada Student Financial Assistance program.