Human Resources committee  Normally, in the current legislation framework we have, all our particulars with respect to grants and loans are laid out clearly in the regulations, and we're able to make changes as appropriate with a fair degree of flexibility; one can make an adjustment as needed vis-à-vis in

Human Resources committee  Essentially, I would add that under the amendment a non-participating jurisdiction would receive an alternative payment without having to deliver any type of access grant. There's nothing in the clause that would require the jurisdiction to report to the program on a similar gran

Human Resources committee  That is correct.

Human Resources committee  That is correct.

Human Resources committee  Let me give you a current example. The province of Quebec provides some grants for which there is no compensatory payment because the grants are not...How shall I say? They're not significantly similar to the federal program. Where the essence of the program is not really simi

Human Resources committee  The program for students from low-income families does not exist in Quebec in the same way as in the federal program. Part of the program is for people with disabilities. That part corresponds, but the other does not. Some Quebec programs do not match the federal program.

Human Resources committee  Yes, absolutely. Quebec makes a request each year. Their agencies give us information and we analyze it. We go through all the information available. In some years, we may have to ask for more information. We do the analysis as the act requires and, at the end of the financial

Human Resources committee  Refused? At the end of the financial year, we send a statement in which we highlight the parts of the program that conform to the act and we show the payment.

Human Resources committee  Quebec receives the proportion of payments for all similar programs that they are required to received under the law. It has to be a significantly similar program in order for us to make the alternative payment to any jurisdiction that is a non-participating jurisdiction.

Human Resources committee  Essentially, the non-participating jurisdiction could put in place a grant program, but that grant program could be targeted at a completely different audience from the Canada access grant target that has been set out by the government. We would still be obliged to make an altern

Human Resources committee  That is correct. It would not have to have the same outcome. So it could be any program that is similar to the example I gave earlier, where non-participating jurisdictions submit to us information on programs they are offering to post-secondary education but that are not substan

Human Resources committee  There would be no assurance. There would be no formal mechanism in place by which we could say, here's the control we put in place in order to ensure we are meeting the same outcomes through the alternative payments as we are through our direct grants and participating jurisdicti

Human Resources committee  On the other part of the question, you're correct, this amendment would mean that the non-participating jurisdictions must put in place a grant—any grant. That grant doesn't necessarily have as its targeted audience first-year, first-time students. It doesn't necessarily have stu

Human Resources committee  It's an access grant for those students who are specifically laid out in today's regulations. That is correct.

Human Resources committee  If this amendment were to pass, they would have to put in place some form of a grant program, but not necessarily the grant program the federal government has set out currently.