Canadian universities students demonstrate for free education

Thousands of students from 54 Canadian universities and supporters Wednesday rallied to demonstrate in 36 cities across the country for free education, according to a news release by the Canadian Federation of Students Wednesday .

"Today students are taking action because we know that education is a right," said Bilan Arte, national chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students in Ottawa.

"We have a vision of post-secondary education where our colleges and universities are fully funded, where all campus workers are paid fairly, and where students can focus on learning without the burden of student debt. Our vision of post-secondary education is one without tuition fees, " he added.

Today's actions are part of a broader campaign launched in June 2016 for free post-secondary education for all students, including graduate students and international students and marks the first time since 2012 students have organized a national Day of Action.

Students are calling on both federal and provincial governments to immediately take steps to eliminate tuition fees, address mounting student debt and increase funding for Indigenous students through the Post-Secondary Student Support Program.

Decades of underfunding have resulted in significant tuition fee increases, with few exceptions, across the country. At present, undergraduate students pay an average of 6,373 Canadian dollars (one Canadian about 0.75 U.S. dollars) while graduate students pay an average of 6,703 Canadian dollars.

International students pay much higher fees, often up to 3.7 times that of domestic students. International undergraduate students pay an average of 23,589 Canadian dollars while international graduate students pay an average of 15,009 Canadian dollars. Underfunding has also led to larger class sizes, a reliance on contract instructors, and a shift to corporate funding.

The Canadian Federation of Students is Canada's oldest and largest students' union, uniting more than 650,000 college and university students.

From 2001-2014, revenues from tuition fees at colleges more than doubled, up 214 percent,; and from 2000-2015, revenues from tuition fees at universities nearly tripled,a 268 percent increase, according to Statistics Canada.

The Postsecondary Student Support Program was created to help Indigenous Nations fund post-secondary students, but due to a 2 percent funding cap that has been in place for 20 years the number of students funded through the program has steadily declined by 18.3 percent since 1997 despite First Nations Population growth of 29 percent.

In 2016-17 the federal government expects to write off 187 million dollars in student loans that have defaulted, according to Canada Student Loans Program. Enditem