10 signatures reached
To: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Please provide financial relief for Canadian university students during the Covid-19 pandemic
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
Please immediately enact measures to include current and graduating post-secondary students in the CERB program, while forgiving a portion of their existing student debt. This will provide the support students need to look after their day to day needs (food, shelter), while ensuring that the debts incurred during this pandemic do not become a crippling burden in the longer term.
Why is this important?
The financial needs of Canadian university students are unaddressed by the Federal Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both current students and recent graduates are unable to work in an economy that has been almost completely suspended. This will result in an accumulation of cost-of-living debt: some will be forced to take on large debt-loads via credit card, while others will go yet further into their student loans.
This is unacceptable. This pandemic is out of the control of Canadian students, who are in a uniquely precarious situation. Though the government has taken a first step in temporarily deferring interest and loan payments, this action only assists a fraction of Canadian students, and neither does it address the fact that all will incur debt that they would otherwise have been able to mitigate in some way. Most Canadian students do not currently qualify for CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit). This vulnerability should be addressed, especially since the economic repercussions of this pandemic will persist with unknown and potentially devastating consequences.