In the developing world, Conditional Cash Transfers — programs that make welfare programs conditional upon the recipients’ actions — are used to alleviate poverty for those struggling to make ends meet.
Rathika Sitsabaiesan, New Democratic Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Scarborough–Rouge River, is now looking to implement this model for the benefit of low-income university students.
Sitsabaiesan’s private member’s bill, the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act (Bill C-265), seeks to “establish criteria and conditions that must be satisfied before a full cash contribution may be made to a province in respect of post-secondary education programs.”
The bill mimics the Canada Health Transfer, Canada’s primary health care funding program provided to the provinces from the federal government.
Provinces must meet specific criteria, as outlined in the Canada Health Act, in order to qualify for the full cash contributions. The funds are distributed on a per-capita basis.
The proposed criteria in the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act focus on accountability, quality, public administration, and accessibility. The act gives power to the Minister of Finance to distribute funds or to withhold them from the provinces depending on how well they comply with the standards outlined in Bill C-265.
Accessibility and Quality
In the 1990s, the federal Liberal government cut funding to provincial programs by approximately $7 billion. According to the Canadian Federation of Students, this prompted post-secondary institutions to hike up tuition prices, thereby restricting university access for low-income earners in the provinces.
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is supportive of the new private member’s bill as a way to combat accessibility issues.
“The [CFS] has, for many years, been calling for the implementation of a post-secondary education act that would establish conditions on the provinces for receiving post-secondary education transfer payments,” said Jessica McCormick, CFS national chairperson.
Section 5(a) of the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act sets terms and conditions that post-secondary institutions must “ensure reasonable access to all qualified persons in the province, regardless of socio-economic status or membership in a group or class.”
McCormick added that setting stringent conditions on the cash transfers is also a virtue.
“Basing cash contributions on a set of criteria established in consultation with provinces and post-secondary education stakeholders ensures that both quality and access to post-secondary education are prioritized,” she said.
With regards to quality, Section 3 of the act cites student-to-teacher ratios, the protection of academic freedom, and independent academic inquiry as standards that province should meet.
The act does not detail what the student-to-teacher ratio is or should be, nor does it define academic freedom or inquiry.
Critcism
In an article published in Maclean’s Magazine last January, Alex Usher, an associate at Higher Education Strategy Associates and prominent post-secondary education analyst, argued that rising student debt is a myth.
Usher referenced rising education costs in the 1990s, and said that increased federal expenditures on grants in the early 2000s could be accredited for the leveling off of those prices.
While affordability and accessibility are related, according to Usher, lowering tuition will not have a major impact on students being able to access higher education.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Canada spends $20,932 USD per tertiary student every year, and ranks first among OECD countries in levels of adults with a college education. At the university level however, Canada ranks eighth.
“Canada spends 40 per cent more on education than Germany. Education is not free to provide, and I’d argue that the quality is lower in countries where tuition fees are absent,” continued Usher.
Usher is also unconvinced about how accessible implementation of the Canada Post-Secondary Education Act would be, saying the conditional cash transfer would have ambiguous effects on students who take into account other opportunity costs of not advancing their education, such as future earnings.
“An act like this is not the way to do it,” said Usher.
Accountability
The Canada Post-Secondary Education Act would put more control into the hands of the Federal government to assess post-secondary institutions. According to section 2 of the act, all post-secondary institutions must be directly administered by the provincial government or by an approved not-for-profit organization.
Reports to the government and public audits would also be a requirement under the act.
McCormick explained the rationale behind these accountability measures. “In return for upholding those principles, provinces would receive adequate and predictable funding. Upholding these principles ensures provincial governments are held accountable for the money invested in education by the federal government,” said McCormick.
The bill has completed its first reading in the House of Commons. Similar bills have been introduced in previous sessions of Parliament, including the first session of the thirty-ninth Parliament and the third session of the fortieth Parliament.
