US Takes on Student Debt While Canadian Students Left Behind

Today, President Joe Biden announced that the United States government would forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for those earning under $150,000.

This news comes on the heels of a freeze of student loan repayments, which has been in place in the United States since March 2020 and has recently been extended until the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, in Canada, repayment of student loans and accrued interest on loans was frozen for a six-month period between March and September 2020.

While the Canadian Federal government did re-introduce an interest freeze in April 2021, it is only set to last until 2023. Freezes to interest fees substantially help alleviate stresses on students and recent grads, caused by the ongoing pandemic and financial crisis.

Canadian students deserve better! The Federation is calling on the Canadian government to follow suit by forgiving student debt for loan borrowers that qualify for the Repayment Assistance Program while honouring commitments to permanently remove interest collected.

Articles

1. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bidens-decision-forgive-student-loan-debt-could-come-soon-this-week-source-2022-08-23/
2. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/19/i-feel-stuck-inside-the-growing-us-student-debt-crisis
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/24/us/politics/student-loan-forgiveness-biden.html
4. https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/08/24/us-student-loan-borrowers-await-president-joe-bidens-plan-on-debt-forgiveness.html (without paywall: https://archive.ph/o1gc0)
5. https://pressprogress.ca/government-of-canada-collected-169-million-in-revenue-from-student-loan-interest-since-start-of-pandemic/