We need to come together and demand all the provincial governments follow the federal government in permanently removing interest on Canadian student loans. As well, monthly loan payments must be driven by income that means taking into account necessary living and medical expenses before determining the payment amount. Let's make student loans affordable.

Every single one of us Canadians who took student loans to pay for higher education did it because we wanted to invest in our own future and the futures of people we care for. Better education should mean better employment, better pay, and better lives, at least that's the promise. That's not always the outcome, though, and a student support system should recognize that.

We all want to pay off our loans, we want to get rid of debt, have more options, and save for the future. We all want to have enough food, pay our bills, and not have to worry about choosing between making rent and defaulting on our loan. Canada's current student loan system doesn't support that. 

When I was applying for loans, I was asked about my family's income, my income, my rent, food expenses, tuition, textbook amounts, all relevant to calculating a reasonable loan amount. When I started repayment, and needed assistance, I was only asked for one thing, last month's gross income, not net, gross.

In the past, I've been laid off from my job and that was still the only piece of information I was asked. If I have no job, what does it matter what I made last month? When I had a good summer with an extra job, come September, what does August's income mean at that point.

Why aren't our monthly payments determined the same way our loan was? Especially when we're in the most need of assistance! 

Unlike in the past, degrees don't automatically lead directly to jobs, let alone careers. Employment opportunities aren't getting better, they're getting worse. Things are getting more expensive, not cheaper. We've already seen the Federal government recognizing this in small ways through temporary debt relief programs. Recently, they've even removed interest from student loans, but that doesn't apply to the provincial part of the loans.

Now is the moment for both Federal and Provincial governments to recognize that grinding people who are already struggling under student debt payments makes things worse, not better. 

Please join me in demanding both Federal and Provincial governments:

• End all interest on student loans, for both the Federal and Provincial components
• Change the repayment assistance calculation to start with the average net income of a reasonable number of past months, preferably a year
• Make the repayment assistance calculation take into account medical expenses, bills, and other essential needs

We want to pay off our loans and live better lives. Let's make the governments of Canada see that they can help us do it!