Liberals promise $1 billion a year in student aid

LIBERAL LEADER Michael Ignatieff

OAKVILLE, ONT. Michael Ignatieff says a Liberal government would spend $1 billion a year on a new student aid program to encourage high schoolers to pursue post-secondary education.

The Liberal leader’s proposed “learning passport” would provide tax-free grants of $4,000 — or $1,000 a year for four years — for students across Canada to attend college or university.

Students from low-income families would qualify for as much as $6,500 over four years, or up to $1,500 a year.

The money would be provided through existing registered education savings plans, or RESPs, but families would not be required to make contributions.

The funds would be held until the student decides to go to school

The $1-billion figure is based on estimates that roughly one million students attend college or university each year; if each student gets $1,000, it works out to about $1 billion.

Senior Liberal officials say the program would be financed in part by increasing the business tax rate to 18 per cent, up from the current rate of 16.5 per cent.

Quebec students, who attend two years of a special vocational program called CEGEP followed by three years of university, would get the same amount of money, distributed over five years instead of four.