Is free tuition in Canada possible?
Tuition in North America is expensive and rising, and because of this, it is all consuming. According to Erika Shaker the student loans her and her partner accumulated, “that debt,…until it was fully repaid, affected every major decision we made as a couple, and then later as a family” (Shaker, 2012, pg. 1). Shaker is not the only Canadian who’s life revolves around their tuition debts. Statistically, in 2016/2017, 497 000 Canadian students received student loans, which corresponds to $2.6 billion (Social Development Canada, 2019). These numbers just touch the surface and do not include Grants or other non government issued loans. Canadians are suffering in the current system and as tuition is hiked so is the demand for free or lower tuition rates. The Canadian government does have programs and are implementing policies to help combat the rising cost of tuition. Programs such as RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan) or CSGP (Canadian Student Grants Program) are designed to ease