Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to appear today on behalf of CASFAA, the Canadian Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
My name is Cara Piperni, and I'm the director of the scholarships and student aid office at McGill University here in Montreal and past president of CASFAA. My fellow board member joining me is Josh Levac, who's my counterpart at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. CASFAA represents the financial aid offices of 94 universities, colleges, and institutes across Canada. We are uniquely positioned in the trenches to provide a national perspective on both the opportunities and issues of student financial assistance.
We first wish to acknowledge the much needed boost in the Canada student loan and grant programs in the past two federal budgets, the redistribution of resources toward consideration of financial need, the relief in loan repayment, fixed-rate student contribution, and expanding the net for part-time students to qualify for loans and grants. It absolutely makes a difference. On-site job opportunities and experiential learning, the youth employment strategy, absolutely resonate with us, as did the recent announcement creating 60,000 student work placements over five years.
Unfortunately, there are still many students disadvantaged in the current system who require additional forms of government assistance. We are witness every day to the lived experiences of students who struggle to enter or stay in post-secondary education or to fully enter the job market upon graduation, due to financial constraint and a host of other barriers.
The key to a productive economy is a well-educated and prepared workforce regardless of identity, background, and financial capacity. Our proposal of a needs-based national work study program serves to bring the youth employment strategy, as well as many recommendations from the expert panel on youth employment, into finer focus for post-secondary education students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and other under-represented and vulnerable identities, such as indigenous students, first-generation students, new immigrant students, and students with disabilities.
The idea is to give priority access to on-campus jobs to students who rely on Canada's student loans program for their studies. That is nearly 500,000 students annually, according to the last published statistics. Why? With increased costs, both tuition and living, the reluctance to enter PSE is often about the debt they need to assume when the certainty of good-paying work is not assured.
Also, retention and graduation rates often suffer without engagement in the campus community. Extras, such as clubs, field experiences, and volunteering for non-profits are out of reach for low-income students because they are barely making ends meet simply covering the basic cost of attendance.
Good-quality part-time work, especially in an understanding environment that respects that school comes first, helps students address their budget shortfalls after government aid and other resources are exhausted and without incurring more debt.
Finally, it's tough to enter the labour market for the first time when you don't have the networks, the soft skills development, or experience to draw from because you come from a disadvantaged background. We see this as a federal grant administered by post-secondary educational institutions on the basis of the number of their students on federal student financial assistance. Schools are in the best position to identify the most vulnerable low-income students who have a host of other barriers, provide some wrap-around support services such as career reflections and financial literacy, and use the power of work to build the confidence and skills that can be parlayed into future employability.
We envision 100% of federal monies going into the pockets of students for work performed. Schools would also contribute to this funding from their research grants, offering budget and other sources to enhance the impact and reach of a national work study program. There are examples of successful programs we can draw upon. The U.S. federal work study program promotes college access and persistence. It covers up to 75% of wages for student employees to work on campus 10 to 15 hours a week. It has a proven positive impact on retention and graduation, and has had a strong effect on post-graduation employment. These results were magnified for the lowest-income students.
The province of Quebec has a long-standing work study program that is co-funded in equal parts between the ministry of education and participating educational institutions. It is dedicated to students on Quebec's loan and bursary program, including those who've reached their debt limit in their program of study.
On my campus, researchers love the work study program because it stretches their research grants to either pay more, or give more students hours in their labs. That's just one example. We see it providing the dignity of work and increasing persistence by providing practical opportunities to enhance the education experience and be connected with activities on campus.
Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to your questions.