Day of Action in 16 Days

February 7th Day of Action

Is in only 16 Days!

In 16 days, students across Canada will walk out in protest of reducing post-secondary tuition fees - as well as each province lobbying for additonal requests to meet the needs of their post-secondary students.

In British Columbia for example, students are lobbying for: a 10% tuition fee reduction; increased funding for all post-secondary education institutions; free adult basic education; student grants for those in need (including graduate students); and increased funding for trades and apprenticeship students.

Some Background Information
In the early to mid-1990s, the federal government made massive cuts to post-secondary education transfer payments to the provinces. Most provinces passed on the cost of those cuts to students in the form of higher tuition fees. At the time, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) articulated the view that rising fees would result in reduced access to post-secondary education. Later, in 2003, a wide variety of studies substantiate the view that an increase in fees precipitates declining rates of participation among low and middle income Canadians.

In 2002 Statistics Canada reported that a pronounced drop in participation rates from students from low and middle-income families. For the purposes of this study the cut off for low and middle income is household incomeless than $60,000. The decline in participation rates, recorded in 1999, was the first recorded decrease since Statistics Canada began tracking this data in 1965. In addition, several studies have been undertaken to examine the deregulation of tuition fees in Ontario. In each study, the investigators found a startling decline of students from lower and middle-income homes.

In response, the CFS has focused much of its campaigns and government relations work during the past five yeras on halting tuition fee increases and restoring federal transfer payments for post secondary education.

The Canadian Federation of Students' efforts have met with some success. Tuition fees in British Columbia were frozen between 1996 and 2002. In Newfoundland and Labrador, fees for all public post-secondary students have been frozen since 1999. In addition, fees for undergraduate and graduate university students were reduced by 10% each year in 2001/2002 and 2002/2003, with a further 5% reduction promised for 2003/2004. In Manitoba, fees were reduced by 10% in 2000/2001 and have remained frozen since. Tuition fees in Quebec have been frozen (for Quebec residents) for close to a decade.

Also, the federal government has ceased cutting and has begun restoring transfer payments. However, unfortunately, some provinces such as Ontario and Nova Scotia have continued to increase fees. BC recently deregulated tuition fees resulting in fee hikes of up to 100% and Ontario has deregulated graduate, professional, and some college fees. As well, the hard-fought freezes and reductions that have been won in some provinces are under attack by those who would have students shoulder more of the funding burden.