The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released an alternative budget on March 15, before the release of the federal government’s budget in parliament. The alternative budget suggests that there is a need to increase access to postsecondary education.
The Canadian Federation of Students, a lobby group that represents student unions at the federal and provincial levels (and that UTM students pay membership fees to), is citing the proposal in its promotion of equality of access to postsecondary education.
The alternative budget outlines four major steps to increase this equality, including creating a cash transfer to reduce postsecondary tuition and removing the funding cap on the Post-Secondary Student Support Program.
The budget cites that tuition fees have increased at more than double the rate of inflation since the 1990s. It asserts that the quickly rising costs of tuition and the cuts to post-secondary funding in the next federal budget will decrease access to postsecondary education.
