Budget 2008 and Student Financial Assistance

Investing in People

Improving Canada’s competitive position means developing the best-educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. That is why Budget 2008 is:

• Supporting Canadian students with a $350-million investment in 2009–10, rising to $430 million by 2012–13, in a new, consolidated Canada Student Grant Program that will reach 245,000 college and undergraduate students per year when it takes effect in the fall of 2009.
• Committing $123 million over four years starting in 2009–10 to streamline and modernize the Canada Student Loans Program.
• Enhancing the flexibility of Registered Education Savings Plans by increasing the time they may remain open to 36 years from 25 years, and by extending the maximum contribution period by 10 years.

Questions and answers

Changes to Student Financial Aid