Every Canadian deserves the chance to get a post-secondary education. But as costs of tuition, rent and books go up — along with cuts to student aid by provincial Conservative governments — so does the pressure and stress on students and their families.

We’re going to step up by making student grants more generous and student loans more affordable.

Canadian colleges, universities, and trade schools provide the skills and training needed to find good jobs and build successful careers.  But today’s post-secondary students are taking on more and more debt just to pay for their degree or certificate. Debt they’ll be stuck with for years — or even decades. And that’s just not right.

We have a real plan to help. For starters, we’ll give you up to $1,200 more each year through Canada Student Grants to help pay for things like tuition, books, and rent.

And after graduation, you’ll have two years, interest-free, before you need to start repaying your student loan — interest-free.

We’re also going to give new parents with student debts a break — making it so that they can pause student loan repayments (with no interest) until their youngest child turns 5. That means more money to help get through those important, expensive first years of a child’s life when the costs of child care and baby gear can make repaying student debt difficult. Life is already expensive, and while the Conservatives claim they’ll help you get ahead, they instead have a long history of making cuts that hurt students.  

Add your name to support building on the progress we’ve made, and to move forward with real action to make life easier for young Canadians like us.