PV staff
Ontario’s largest student organization – Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O) – is hosting its annual Lobby Week from February 25-28, providing post-secondary students with a key opportunity to meet with MPPs. The organization is leading students in calling on Queen’s Park to “establish a fair and inclusive post-secondary education system in Ontario that puts students over profit.”
The organization notes that this year’s lobby occurs against a difficult ongoing backdrop for students. “The escalating cost of living, high inflation and skyrocketing rents have deeply affected students’ lives and their pursuit of higher education,” it said in a February 22 press release. “For many, post-secondary education is now out of reach due to high tuition fees.”
CFS-O says that the current situation is exacerbating ongoing challenges in post-secondary education, arising from decades of underfunding and cuts.
Throughout the week, students will hold meetings with MPPs to address six primary recommendations:
- Progressively eliminating tuition fees for all students, by cutting tuition fees by 25 percent annually for the next 4 years.
- Increasing grants to Indigenous student services and doubling funding to Indigenous Institutes.
- Regulating tuition for international students and taking steps to eliminate tuition fees for international students entirely.
- Increasing Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments and protecting ODSP from clawbacks.
- Increasing provincial funding to graduate students and eliminating tuition fees for graduate programs.
- Implementing legislation to protect students’ rights to organize.
In announcing the Lobby Week, CFS-O chairperson Mitra Yakubi called on MPPs to make post-secondary education a priority. “Robust investments and the commitment to a more just post-secondary education system need to be implemented immediately to ensure all students can have access to without worrying about the cost of education.”
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario is the oldest and largest student organization in Ontario, representing over 350,000 college and university students in every region of the province.
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