Office of the Speaker - Students` Society of McGill University

Celebrating over 100 years of SSMU
Office of the Speaker
Policy on Accessible Education
Whereas, Canada is a signatory of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, ratified in 1976, which states that “Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all,
on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive
introduction of free education”i; and
Whereas, between the years of 1988 and 2003, government funding as a percentage of total
university operating budgets decreased from 87% to 67.8% in favour of increases in contributions
from households (by 5.6%) and other private sources (by 13.7%)ii; and
Whereas, the Québec government of Jean Charest has consistently prioritized income and corporate
tax cuts over funding education and other social programs, such as the $950 million general tax cut
of 2007-8 in the same year of the tuition defreezeiii; and
Whereas, a report commissioned by the ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport in 2007
estimated that, notwithstanding tax credits and expanded financial assistance, an increase in
Québec university tuition fees from 1,617.76$, the level at the time, to 4,893.13$, a level
comparable to the Canadian average, would have had the effect of reducing the number of
university students in Québec by more than 22 000, or 9.6%iv; and
Whereas, out-of-province and international students in regulated programs will also be affected by
Québec tuition increases because their base fee is Québec tuitionvvi; and
Whereas, total student debt in Canada is over $13 billion, and is increasingvii; and
Whereas, a survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 2009 indicated that, two years after
graduation, the average outstanding debt of Canadian bachelor’s graduates with student debt
exceeded $20,000viii; and
Whereas, the number of Canadian students relying on student loans has increased as tuition has
increased, rising from 49% to 57% from 1995 to 2005ix; and
Whereas, of those Canadians who do not attend university due to financial constraints, one quarter
cite the fear of incurring debt as their primary concernx; and
Whereas, while targeted financial assistance is effectively limited to families below the low-income
cut-off, and Statistics Canada notes there is little difference in university participation rates
between students from low-income families and students from moderate-income families, financial
aid does/will not suffice in offsetting the effects of tuition increases on the accessibility of postsecondary educationxi; and
Celebrating over 100 years of SSMU
Office of the Speaker
Whereas, the abolition of tuition and the rectification of the Québec university underfunding crisis
would have cost the province only $1.22 billion in 2007xii; and
Whereas, it is possible for a society to provide high-quality post-secondary education without
resorting to tuition fees, as demonstrated by the examples of Denmarkxiii and Swedenxiv,xv; and
Whereas, the Government of Canada could reduce student debt by approximately 75%, by simply
converting existing education tax credits to need-based student grantsxvi;
Be it resolved that the SSMU shall:
• Stand for the right to high-quality, universally accessible post-secondary education;
• Oppose any mechanism or legislation that would permit the increase in non-consensual fees for
any student – Québécois, Canadian, or international;
• Call for a public re-investment in post-secondary education from all levels of government;
• Call for the elimination of all financial barriers to a high-quality post-secondary education, and
advocate for a progressive reduction of tuition for all students, including the eventual elimination of
ancillary and tuition fees;
• Work with all elements of the Québec and Canadian student movements towards these goals.
Respectfully submitted,
Amara Possian
Myriam Zaidi
Tyler Lawson
Zach Margolis
The External Affairs Committee
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights: International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm.
ii Statistique Canada, Dépenses en enseignement universitaire selon la provenance directe des fonds, 2003 ;
VIERSTRAETE, Valérie, Les frais de scolarité, l’aide financière et la fréquentation des établissements d’enseignement
postsecon- daire, MELS, 2007.
iii Modest Tax Cuts in Quebec Budget, The Toronto Star, http://www.thestar.com/news/article/183784--modest-tax-cutsin-quebec-budget.
iv Vierstraete, Les frais de scolarité, 112.
v McGill University Students Accounts Website, http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/fees/tuition/.
vi "Studying in Quebec." Ministère De L'Éducation, Du Loisir Et Du Sport. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/international/index_en.asp?page=universite>.
vii Canadian Federation of Students (http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/studentdebt/index.html).
viii Statistics Canada, 2009 (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090422/dq090422a-eng.htm).
ix Luong, May. 2010. “The financial impact of student loans.” Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 11, no. 1. January.
Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 75-001-XIE.
x Malatest, R.A. and Associates Ltd. “The Class of 2003: High school follow-up survey.” Millennium Scholarship Foundation,
2007.
i
Celebrating over 100 years of SSMU
Office of the Speaker
Mackenzie, Hugh. “Tuition Trap.” Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, Sept. 2005.
IRIS: 3 scenarios 2007.
xiii Valérie Vierstraete, Les frais de scolarité, l’aide financière aux études et la fréquentation des établissements
d’enseignement postsecondaire – Comparaison à l’échelle internationale et étude de scénarios pour le Québec (Québec :
Gouvernement du Québec – Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, 2007), 22-31.
xiv The method employed here to assess the quality of higher education in Sweden is the same as used by Vierstraete on
page 22 of her report: dividing the number of Swedish universities appearing in the Top 200 of the Times ranking (six) by
the population of Sweden, in millions (9.35). The ratio obtained is 64,1%.
“The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010-2011”, Times Higher Education, accessed March 2011,
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html.
xv “Tuition fees”, Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, accessed March 4, 2011,
xvi Canadian Federation of Students (http://www.cfs-fcee.ca/studentdebt/index.html).
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