On November 2nd, 2016, the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS-FCÉÉ), their partners and students across Canada will take to the streets as part of the Student Day of Action. The Day of Action is part of the ongoing fight to reduce economic and social barriers to post secondary education and to oppose the increased cost of tuition in Canada. Solidarity Halifax supports students and the CFS-FCÉÉ in this important struggle.
According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, tuition has more than doubled from 1994 to 2015, increasing on average from $3,260 to $6,780 in real terms. In consequence, students across the country will owe the federal government a combined $19 billion (an average of $28,000) by the end of 2016. This debt load is a crushing burden for recent graduates.
Accessible education is a corner stone of democracy that reduces inequality and strengthens our society. What’s more, is that having a tuition free post-secondary system is completely affordable. As you can see in the list below, countries with far fewer financial resources than Canada have made university and college a financially viable option to their entire population. This is a matter of deciding whether or not we want to eliminate tuition, rather than a question of whether or not we can.
Countries with no tuition:
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Cuba
4. Denmark
5. Ecuador
6. Finland
7. Germany
8. Iceland
9. Norway
10. Sweden
11. Venezuela
Countries with nominal fees for Post secondary education
1. Austria
2. Belgium
3. France
4. Luxembourg
5. Spain
6. Switzerland