Students deserve accessible, quality education

OTTAWA – Across the country Canadians are recognising the increased need for post-secondary education but decades of Conservative and Liberal governments have failed to make it a priority.

Today, to address this growing problem, New Democrat Post-Secondary Education Critic Niki Ashton proposed the Post-Secondary Education Act. Modelled after the Canada Health Act, the legislation would ensure provincial and territorial government are better able to provide affordable high-quality education for all Canadian students

“The federal government has an historic role in funding post-secondary education,” said Ashton. “Stephen Harper broke his promise to create a transfer dedicated to education and now universities and colleges are left to choose between raising tuition fees and sacrificing quality. No wonder Canadians say Ottawa is broken.”

In the last four years alone, tuition fees have risen by close to 20 percent. Across provinces, striking discrepancies in tuition fee rates reveal the clear need for federal leadership.

“Twenty years of failing federal investment have seen tuition fees triple, soaring out of reach for far too many families,” said Ashton. “Our future prosperity depends on how well we equip the next generation of Canadians to build our 21st century economy. We need to make post-secondary education more accessible, not less.”