Ontario parties attach different price tags to pledge to boost student grants
Three of Ontario's four main parties are pledging to reverse cuts to the province's student assistance program, but they've all attached different price tags to the promise.
The program that converted many student loans to grants and made tuition free for some students was turfed by the Progressive Conservatives after they took power in 2018. The auditor general predicted the cost of grants issued through the Ontario Student Assistance Program would reach $2 billion annually by 2020, far greater than anticipated by the former Liberal government, which introduced the scheme.
The Green Party is promising $1 billion annually to reverse the cuts and the Liberals are pledging $600 million a year, while the NDP have budgeted $771 million next year and $834 million the year after that, in addition to just over $40 million annually to convert student loans into grants.
"We will be reintroducing an OSAP program that is as generous for middle- and low- income Ontario students as that existed prior to 2018, prior to Doug Ford reversing the progress that we had begun to make for more accessible and more affordable post secondary," Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said at a campaign stop in the Ottawa area on Monday.
"We're also going to take the interest off of student loans so students only have to repay what they borrowed as opposed to interest on top of that."
When Del Duca released his costed platform two weeks ago, he said his party "looked at the amounts that we felt were required in order to hit the affordability challenges that post secondary students are facing" and arrived at a figure slightly lower than what the auditor general warned the promise would cost back in 2018.
The New Democrats, who are prepared to spend a couple hundred million dollars more per year on the pledge, said they want Ontarians to graduate debt-free.
"An Ontario NDP government will ensure a quality post-secondary education is accessible to all Ontarians who want one, and work towards a future where tuition is never a barrier to education," the party said in an emailed statement.
The Greens, who are promising to spend the most money on student grants, said Ontario's tuition rates are too high.
"We recognize that we have to make significant investments in our post secondary institutions," party leader Mike Schreiner said Monday during a virtual news conference.
His in-person campaign stops have been put on pause after he came down with COVID-19 last week.
"Ontario has the highest per capita tuition rates in the country and the lowest per capita funding for our post secondary sector. So we ... need to increase investments in colleges and universities to continue to offer the world class education that we offer," he said.
The Progressive Conservatives, meanwhile, don't plan to reverse the cuts they made.
Instead, a party spokesperson said, they cut tuition rates by 10 per cent and froze them.
"If re-elected, we will maintain the current tuition freeze for an additional academic year," the spokesperson said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.