Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to share with you the thoughts, concerns, and recommendations of Ontario's college and college/university students.
I am Tyler Charlebois and I am the director of advocacy for the College Student Alliance, which is an advocacy and services organization representing over 120,000 full-time college and college/university students across the province.
“Canada Rebranded: Stronger Investments for Greater Returns” is our submission to your pre-budget consultations. It focuses on three recommendations to lead Canada into the new economy.
The first recommendation is that the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces and territories, must develop a national education and training strategy.
The second recommendation is that the Government of Canada assist in alleviating the increasing burden of debt that learners are assuming. The Canada student loans program loan repayment policy should be changed to encompass interest relief and debt reduction components.
The third recommendation is that the Government of Canada should establish a separate research envelope for colleges to expand their applied research, commercialization, and innovation capabilities.
For today's presentation, I'm going to focus only on what we feel is the utmost important issue moving forward. As Canada, North America, and other countries around the globe face economic uncertainty, the CSA is urging the federal government to focus on rebuilding and retraining Canadians for the new economy. If Canada is to rebuild and sustain future prosperity, we must ensure that all Canadians, new and old, have access to an affordable, high-quality post-secondary education and training system. An educated and skilled citizenry will revive Canada’s struggling economy and place the country back on the road to recovery and competitiveness. The benefits to both the individual and the taxpayer are worth Canada’s increased investment in higher learning.
The taxpayer return on investment is some 15.9% for every dollar spent on Canadian colleges and institutes. With more than $123.3 billion in income being contributed to the Canadian economy annually by colleges, polytechnics, institutes, and their graduates, this is roughly 8% of a typical year’s economic growth in Canada. To that end, the College Student Alliance is calling for the federal government, in partnership with the provinces and territories, to develop a national education and training strategy.
For over the past decade and a half, Canada and Canadians in all provinces have seen an underfunding of our post-secondary education system. This underfunding has resulted in reduced quality and a downloading of costs onto students and their families.
A country as vast and diverse as Canada must be a leader in today's knowledge-based economy. We must be at the forefront of innovation, commercialization, and integration. We must work together to build a strategy that is clear and concise so that all Canadians understand that Canada is a place to live and learn.
A national strategy must look to increase our ability to collect and report data. Currently, Canada is ranked last amongst OECD countries in terms of data collection for quality measurement in PSE. Our lack of data is not only hurting our ability to compare ourselves to other countries, but also is hindering our ability to make sound decisions based on fact rather than pure assumption or speculation.
A national strategy must work to recognize all prior learning and pathways, with a focus on expanding pan-Canadian mobility for learners. Learners must be able to move between the system sectors and provincial and territorial boundaries without increased cost or duplication of their prior learning.
A national strategy must provide our provinces and territories with the appropriate funding: a dedicated transfer to provinces and territories of about $4 billion annually to restore Canada's investment in higher learning.
Within the framework of a national strategy and transfer, the responsibility would be placed on each provincial and territorial government to construct agreements with the post-secondary education institutions within their jurisdictions to ensure adequate funding to expand access, to increase affordability, and for accountability not only to the learner but also to all Canadians.
Our vision is for a Canada in which all citizens have an opportunity to build on their natural talents and abilities through post-secondary education and training in a system that is adequately supported by both provincial and federal governments and allows learners to move across the country to gain new skills and experiences. Students are united in this call for Canada to develop a national education and training strategy. The time is now.
Thank you for your time this morning.