Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear today.
My name is Michael Sangster, and I am the CEO of the National Association of Career Colleges. I represent over 500 regulated career colleges in every province in Canada. We train more than 200,000 learners annually in job-ready programs aligned to Canada's labour market needs.
Canada is operating in a period of significant economic pressure, trade uncertainty and fiscal restraint. The government is faced with major national challenges in housing, infrastructure, trade, energy and health care. Those realities are real, and they require thoughtful policy decisions that align education with economic outcomes.
I represent career colleges that work tirelessly with our regulators and student aid officials to improve accountability in student financial assistance and to improve student outcomes through regulation.
While we understand and support the government's desire to ensure quality outcomes, we believe that eliminating the Canada student grant for learners in programs longer than one year at career colleges moves Canada in the wrong direction.
Starting on August 1, 2026, our learners will no longer have access to these grants. This change does not reduce the cost of education. It transfers financial risk and hardship to regulated career college students, many of whom are working adults, career changers, and parents already managing employment, family responsibilities and the rising cost of living.
That is why I am here today—to represent our members, but more importantly the students who rely on us, and the employers and communities that we partner with to create our workforce.
Let me reframe the conversation as to why a student chooses a regulated career college. They do so because their program of choice can start next week, the classes fit their lifestyle, the practical training gets them a job, and small class sizes help them succeed. Students choose a regulated career college because it meets their needs. Shouldn't government policy do the same for a single mother, a newcomer to Canada or a laid-off auto worker?
Employers choose career colleges because they train the workforce they need. They get employees with real skills to do the job on day one. These grants are not a luxury. For many learners, these grants are part of the opportunity that helps them get an education and a job with dignity. For the auto worker looking for a fresh start, they create an opportunity to become a cybersecurity professional. These grants turn new Canadians into nurses, dental assistants and early childhood educators. These grants support single mothers to train in a third party accredited program that gives them and their children a better future.
Our colleges are helping the government deliver on programs like the Canada-wide early learning and child care program, the Canadian dental care plan and the pharmacare program, to name a few.
The results are clear—60% of career college graduates report being hired within three months of graduation, and more than 80% of employed graduates are working in jobs related to their training. Regulated career colleges are not a threat to Canada's public post-secondary institutions; rather, they complement the system already struggling to keep up with the demand of training and re-skilling workers to meet the moment we are in.
We train a different cohort of students, and they are being left out of this conversation. Student financial assistance should expand choice and opportunity, not restrict it based on institution type. Provinces regulate quality. Third party accreditors ensure that standards are being met. We should let students choose the institutions that meet their needs, their schedules, their locations and their learning modalities.
Today, we are asking the committee to make a recommendation to the government to reverse the decision announced in budget 2025. We must restore grant eligibility for regulated career college learners and pursue targeted reforms that strengthen integrity without cutting off access. We have been and continue to be prepared to offer other solutions that we believe are equal and fair.
If Canada wants workforce resilience, we must protect flexibility, multiple pathways and affordability in training. Choice matters, and when learners succeed, Canada succeeds.
Thank you for your service to your constituents, and we look forward to your questions.