This website is a testimony to the problems Canadian Student Loan borrowers experienced from approximately 1996 to 2008 and until their loans were paid off.

The privatization of the Student Loans system by the Chretien and Martin Liberal governments broke the system and defaulted thousands of borrowers who were trying to pay their loans. There were even stories of suicide due to the harassment of borrowers.

Read the report that I prepared back in 2007 here. Canada Student Loans-The Need for Change Fortunately the new Conservative government at the time revamped the program and fixed the system for new borrowers, but borrowers under the previous program were left with ruined credit and continued harassment from debt collectors.

I call on the Canadian Government to apologize to the borrowers affected by this fiasco and make amends.

Unfortunately the Liberal government is again clobbering the Education system with their upcoming changes to International Student Visas. Yes, there's a problem, but instead of a well thought out plan, they have pulled the emergency brake on the train causing a derailment. This has introduced unprecedented instability for both private and public education institutions who serve both international and local students.

Universities can't plan. I've heard of courses being cut because the government has no process in place for universities to send the newly required acceptance letters to the government.

This means that students who have been accepted can not attend courses that start in the summer 2024 semester. With cut sections, current Canadian students will have trouble getting courses, and may have to switch to part-time which changes their enrollment status and might trigger repayment of their loans or ineligibility for funding. I've seen this before. It wreaks havoc on the student loan borrowers.

Again, the Liberal government has messed up the education environment. Will the new system needed in a rush for the acceptance letters be the new Arrivecan scandal?

I call on the government to implement a slower phased in approach and delay the requirement of the acceptance letters until a process is in place to submit these letters.


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Forum LockedOntario tries to collect on old debts

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    Posted: 02/June/2004 at 11:34am
The Leader-Post (Regina) 2004)
TORONTO (CP) -- Julie Pocock thought she'd paid off her student debts years ago -- until a collection notice arrived in her mailbox.

Pocock, who graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1993, is among more than 5,600 former university students -- some from as far back as the Class of 1981 -- suddenly getting collection notices from the province for OSAP grant overpayments totalling $5.1 million.

"Isn't there a statute of limitations on these kinds of things?" Pocock, of Waterloo, Ont., said Monday.

Her bill comes to $340 -- a sliver of the $10.5 million in Ontario Student Assistance Program overpayments made between 1981 and 1996, according to the provincial auditor.

"This is not small potatoes. This is a lot of money," said Dave Ross, spokesman for Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

When students applied for grants, they were asked to estimate how much they planned to earn in wages during the year.

They often made more than anticipated, meaning they qualified for less in grants.

"If you put down $5,000 and you made $12,000, then obviously you have to inform the ministry (and say) 'whoops, here's how much it is," said Ross.

Pocock received an OSAP grant for approximately $3,000 in 1991- 92 while studying geography at Wilfrid Laurier.

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1993 and thought she had squared up her accounts long ago.

"Who knew that the government is secretly digging around in 20- year-old records to scam as much money as possible from people who have already cleared their names," said Pocock, who now works as an admissions specialist at the University of Waterloo.

An initial batch of 3,663 collection notices, seeking $3.3 million in overpayments, were mailed out during a three-month period beginning November 2000.

But the collection program was put on hold until earlier this year because the ministry had trouble proving the money was owed.

Another 5,681 collection notices went out in March this year.

Individual bills range from $200 to $1,000 and a total of $5.1 million is being sought.
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