Mr. Speaker, Canadian students must claim scholarships as income. A Canadian student lucky enough to receive a large scholarship is actually unlucky because he must pay tax to Revenue Canada on the value of the scholarship as if it were income.
Scholarships to American universities are often large because the tuition rates are high. Canadian students are being forced to pay income tax on money they never see because much of it is earmarked for tuition. This situation turns to farce when the student spends his whole summer working just to pay taxes. On the other hand, American students receive the tuition portion of their scholarship tax free.
This draconian tax policy is unfair to Canadian students, encourages the brain drain and penalizes bright students who are awarded the larger scholarships. This needs to be fixed.