Photo: Simon Cunningham CC BY 2.0)

Even the federal government is giving up on over 63,000 students repaying their student loans, drawing criticism from the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) over post-secondary education funding. 

According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Employment and Social Development Canada is asking the federal government to write off 63,540 students’ debts totalling $294.6 million.

Jessica McCormick, national chairperson for the CFS, believes this situation was avoidable, stating in a press release that, “governments could easily avoid having to assume these costs by adequately funding higher education and reducing the up-front financial burden.”

According to the CFS, this latest loan write-off for post-secondary institutions is also a symptom of deeper problems within the education and the economy.

McCormick explains the links between these two seemingly separate sectors, stating that,

“For every graduate unable to make any payments on their student loans, there are hundreds more struggling to make ends meet in an increasingly unstable job market,” says McCormick, in a press release. “The combination of a weak job market, high youth unemployment, the proliferation of unpaid internships and ballooning student debt has created a crisis that the Conservatives would be wise not to ignore.”