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Author samin Categories Finance Canada

Government of Canada helping students return to school with $7.3 billion in grants and interest-free loans

To unlock good-paying opportunities for every generation, particularly for Millennials and Gen Z, every student must have fair access to post-secondary education, regardless of their ability to pay. Everyone should be able to afford college, university, or an apprenticeship, graduate and find a good job, put a roof over their head, and build a good middle class life.

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, today announced the federal government is delivering $7.3 billion in grants and interest-free loans to students this academic year. The federal government’s record-high support for students is made possible by measures announced in Budget 2024:

  • Extending for an additional year the increase in full-time Canada Student Grants from $3,000 to $4,200 per year and interest-free Canada Student Loans from $210 to $300 per week. Grants for part-time students, students with disabilities, and students with dependants are also being increased proportionately. With this $1.1 billion investment, Canada Student Grants have more than doubled in size since 2014, when the maximum full-time grant was just $2,000.
  • Increasing rent support for students by modernizing the typical cost of housing used to determine students’ financial need to reflect true housing costs, as the formula used had not been updated since 1998. This new approach means approximately 79,000 students will receive more student aid this year.
  • Permanently eliminating credit screening for students aged 22 and older, to remove barriers for returning to school for adults with low credit scores and enable more Canadians to access student aid. This change is expected to help up to 1,000 more Canadians return to school this academic year.

With these actions to increase support for students, 587,000 students are benefitting from $2.4 billion in grants and 652,000 students are benefitting from $4.9 billion in interest-free loans, totalling $7.3 billion this academic year.

Increased federal student aid complements the federal government’s $2.6 billion investment to train top-tier, homegrown talent, with core research grants and enhanced scholarships and fellowships to make it more affordable for our brightest minds to put their ideas to work.

 

“Fairness for every generation requires ensuring financial means are not a barrier for pursuing a post-secondary education. That is why we’re boosting student aid to a record-high $7.3 billion in Canada Student Grants and interest-free Canada Student Loans this academic year. This is about unlocking post-secondary education for more young Canadians, so we can build a more productive, more innovative economy where every generation can get ahead.”

– The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

 

Quick facts

  • Since 2016, the federal government has supported 645,000 post-secondary students per year, on average, with $38.6 billion in up-front grants and interest-free loans—enabling young Canadians to pursue their education, regardless of their background.
  • To ensure this support keeps up with the cost of an education, in 2016, the government permanently increased Canada Student Grants by 50 per cent to $3,000. In 2020, when students faced challenges finding work and affording school, the government temporarily doubled Canada Student Grants to provide $6,000 each year for three school years.
  • Since April 1, 2023, interest charges have been permanently eliminated on all Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans, saving the average student loan borrower an average of $610 every year on interest payments. After graduation, borrowers do not need to make payments on their interest-free loans until earning at least $44,388 per year.
  • To attract more rural health and social service workers, in Budget 2024, the federal government expanded student loan forgiveness for graduates working in rural and remote communities—already available for doctors and nurses—to:
    • Dentists;
    • Dental hygienists;
    • Pharmacists;
    • Midwives;
    • Early childhood educators;
    • Teachers;
    • Social workers;
    • Personal support workers;
    • Physiotherapists; and,
    • Psychologists.
  • Enhanced federal research support of $2.6 billion includes:
    • A 30 per cent increase over five years of Canada’s core research grant programs that support faculty-led research projects. This $1.8 billion investment will indirectly support thousands of graduate student and post-doctoral fellows with their research, including their work on climate action, health emergencies, artificial intelligence, and psychological health.
    • Increasing the annual value of master’s and doctoral students’ scholarships to $27,000 and $40,000, respectively, and post-doctoral fellowships to $70,000. To make it easier for students and fellows to access support, the enhanced suite of scholarships and fellowship programs will be streamlined into one talent program. This new program—an investment of $825 million—will also increase the number of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows benefitting from research scholarships and fellowships, building to approximately 1,720 graduate students and fellows benefitting each year.
  • The federal government is calling on provinces and territories to make education more affordable through robust investments in student financial assistance and post-secondary institutions.
    • The federal government is also calling on the provinces and territories that still charge interest on student loans—Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec,  and the Northwest Territories—to make their student loans interest-free.
  • Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, which do not participate in the federal program, can receive funding to provide their own comparable support to students.

 

 

Author samin Categories Citizenship Canada

Canada to stabilize growth and decrease number of new international student permits issued to approximately 360,000 for 2024

International students enrich our communities and are a critical part of Canada’s social, cultural and economic fabric. In recent years, the integrity of the international student system has been threatened. Some institutions have significantly increased their intakes to drive revenues, and more students have been arriving in Canada without the proper supports they need to succeed. Rapid increases in the number of international students arriving in Canada also puts pressure on housing, health care and other services. As we work to better protect international students from bad actors and support sustainable population growth in Canada, the government is moving forward with measures to stabilize the number of international students in Canada.

The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced today that the Government of Canada will set an intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize new growth for a period of two years. For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023. In the spirit of fairness, individual provincial and territorial caps have been established, weighted by population, which will result in much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth. Study permit renewals will not be impacted. Those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, and elementary and secondary education are not included in the cap. Current study permit holders will not be affected.

IRCC will allocate a portion of the cap to each province and territory, who will then distribute the allocation among their designated learning institutions. To implement the cap, as of January 22, 2024, every study permit application submitted to IRCC will also require an attestation letter from a province or territory. Provinces and territories are expected to establish a process for issuing attestation letters to students by no later than March 31, 2024.

These temporary measures will be in place for two years, and the number of new study permit applications that will be accepted in 2025 will be re-assessed at the end of this year. During this period, the Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces and territories, designated learning institutions and national education stakeholders on developing a sustainable path forward for international students, including finalizing a recognized institution framework, determining long-term sustainable levels of international students and ensuring post-secondary institutions are able to provide adequate levels of student housing.

In order to better align the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, we are changing the eligibility criteria:

  • Starting September 1, 2024, international students who begin a study program that is part of a curriculum licensing arrangement will no longer be eligible for a post­graduation work permit upon graduation. Under curriculum licensing agreements, students physically attend a private college that has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college. These programs have seen significant growth in attracting international students in recent years, though they have less oversight than public colleges and they act as a loophole with regards to post-graduation work permit eligibility.
  • Graduates of master’s degree programs will soon be eligible to apply for a 3-year work permit. Under current criteria, the length of a post­graduation work permit is based solely on the length of an individual’s study program, hindering master’s graduates by limiting the amount of time they have to gain work experience and potentially transition to permanent residence.

In the weeks ahead, open work permits will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs. The spouses of international students in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programs, will no longer be eligible.

The important measures announced today complement other recently announced reforms to the International Student Program. Taken together, they aim to ensure genuine students receive the support they require and have the resources they need for an enriching study experience in Canada, while at the same time stabilizing the overall number of students arriving and alleviating pressures on housing, health care and other services in Canada.

 

“International students are vital to Canada and enrich our communities. As such, we have an obligation to ensure that they have access to the resources they need for an enriching academic experience. In Canada, today, this isn’t always the case. Today, we are announcing additional measures to protect a system that has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough. Through the decisive measures announced today, we are striking the right balance for Canada and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system while setting students up for the success they hope for.”

– The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Quick facts

  • In the coming months, we will continue to work to provide clear pathways to permanent residence for students with in-demand skills and explore new measures to better transition international students to the labour force.
  • The department has introduced several measures recently to make sure the International Student Program works for in-coming students, as well as the country as a whole, including:
    • On January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living requirement for study permit applicants was updated to better reflect the true cost of living in Canada and help prevent student vulnerability and exploitation.
    • Since December 1, 2023, post-secondary designated learning institutions have been required to confirm every letter of acceptance submitted by an applicant outside Canada directly with IRCC. This enhanced verification process protects prospective students from fraud and ensures that study permits are issued based only on genuine letters of acceptance.
    • In 2024, we intend to implement targeted pilots aimed at helping underrepresented cohorts of international students pursue their studies in Canada.