NDP promises to wipe out a lot of student debt as parties prepare for election

The NDP ispromising to wipe out a large portion of existing studentdebt, pause student loan payments and eliminatestudent debtinterest.

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singhofferednew details Saturdayofthe party's proposalsto make post-secondary education more affordable and eventually tuition-free. Singh saida government led by him would:

• Cancelup to $20,000 in federal student debtper student.
• Offernew graduates a five-year repayment break.
• Eliminate student debt interest payments for good.
• Placea moratorium on student loanpaymentsduring the pandemic.

The partyestimates their proposals wouldcost $4 billion in the first year and $1.5 billion annually thereafter.

The Canada Student Loans Program hasover 868,000 borrowers and outstandingloans worth $9.77 billion, according to a recentaudit of program.

Watch | How would anNDPgovernment pay for all of this?

'We will unrig the system': NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

3 years ago

Duration 0:55

As federal election speculation ramps up, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh outlines how he would pay for his plan to help students struggling with tuition fees.

Singh saidhe wants to fund increased spending throughhigher taxes onthe wealthiest Canadians, and by taxingcompanies like Amazon and Netflixthat haveprofited handsomelyduring the pandemic. He said hewould also close tax loopholes.

"Young people are making student loan payments the size of mortgage payments,spending years under crushing debt not able to get ahead. And the COVID-19 pandemic only made matters worse," Singh said in a media release.

Singh announcedthe campaign plank at the party's virtual youth convention Saturday. Opposition partieshave said they are preparing for the governing Liberals to trigger an election in the near future. Speaking to French media earlier this month,Prime Minister Justin Trudeauwould not ruleout an early election.

Singh said young people have been among those hardest-hit by the pandemic's economic impact. Many are paying thousands of dollars in tuition for classes that are no longer being held in person.

Singh accused the Liberals of "profiting off the backs of young people."

The party says it remains committed to working with provinces and territories to eventually makepost-secondary education tuition-free for Canadians.

Today'sannouncement goes further than Singh's 2019 election campaign pledge. During that campaign, Singh said an NDP government wouldeliminate all existing and future interest chargedon federal student loans and work with provinces and territories to cap and reduce tuition fees.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated the cost of those promises would rise to as much as $598 million annually by 2030.

The other parties made promises to students as well. Those measures are archived here in the education section of the CBC's 2019 platform tracker.

A spokesperson for Employment MinisterCarla Qualtroughprovided a list of measures the government haseither implemented or says it is working toward. They includedoubling student grants and eliminating interest on federal studentloans this year.

"We know students and young Canadians are still facing challenges, and we will continue to do what it takes to be there to support students and help them get through these challenging times," the minister'spress secretary, Marielle Hossack, said in a mediastatement.

As part of their pandemic relief, the governing Liberals suspended student loan repayments. But that financial break ended in Septemberand interest payments resumed in October.

Today'sNDP youth convention takes placethree weeks before the party's national convention. These conventions allow the party's membership to change the party's constitution, policies and leadership.