| # | First Name | Last Name | Please provide a comment or personal story. |
|---|
| 101 | Dev | Gadgil | Thanks to Mark O'Meara. Keep up the good work! I sincerely hope the government pays attention to this petition or we will soon be facing a crisis in which thousands of jobless graduates will default on their loans. |
| 102 | Mark | Berry | The interest rate on student loans is grossly excessive. If you do not become gainfully employed immediately after graduation, you can't make payments to reduce the principal, you end up covering the interest only. |
| 103 | John | Hemsworth | I am a father of two. I am fully employed in my chosen field. my wife also works full time. When i have paid all of my outstanding monthly loan payments it is almost $1000. it has been five years. everything that i am paying now is interest aka profit to the lenders. amy relief would mean that we might be able to buy a house someday. currently we rent a very small 2 bedroom unit. 2 adults, 2 kids, two home offices and a cat. |
| 104 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I have been unethically harassed and threatened by collection agencies despite the fact that I continue to make monthly payments. |
| 105 | Christy | Madson | Please help our educated graduates to live above the poverty line! |
| 106 | Kimberley | Robinson | I owe $28,000.00 to both the Sask and Can. governments. I have 1 month left of interest relief after that I will try debt reduction or start to pay off these gigantic loans. Unfortunately, the ones that will suffer because of these payment are my children aged 3 and 5 months |
| 107 | Anonymous | Anonymous | 12 years of paying back at 11%. Pay back of twice principal. Collectors after me into retirement. Need I say more. |
| 108 | Michael | Upton | My loans are in default. Income tax being taken. Being pushed to the brink. Cant get apartment, cant get car, cant get bank account...why not just commit a crime and go to jail? loan will be forgiven and by the time i get out, (wont have a hard time finding a place to stay) my credit should be better |
| 109 | Antonio | Pilla | All of the above points make intelligent and humane business sense. Implement them. |
| 110 | Anonymous | Anonymous | the 10 year bankruptcy law is unfair. You can start a business and go bankrupt 20 times but you cant for student loans. i feel 5 years is fair then at least there is some effort shown to pay back the money. |
| 111 | Michaela | Petrusova | It is hard enough to start your life after graduating without having to worry about student loan payments. People's lives would be made much easier having a little bit of help getting started. |
| 112 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I've been paying over $500 per month for over 3 years and have barely scratched the surface of my principal. |
| 113 | dave | swenson | wish they'd go away |
| 114 | Glen | Dignard | I owe 80,000 and it has ben a constant struggle to keep up. I've already been through a bankruptcy which helped my mom-student loans which built up because paying my student loans caused me to live off my credit cards because I had no money left aafter paying my student loans. No government financial assistance was available to help me repay my loan (except interest relief at points in my life when Income was really low), but no debt reduction, etc because of the years I was in school.. 93-99, NOTHING was available to help me. |
| 115 | Susan | MacDonald | I graduated from university with almost $50,000 in student loans. I continue to be frustrated with the various organizations holding my loans because of lost paperwork. Further, the amount of money I have paid to my loans vs what is actually applied to the priciple is disgusting. Something needs to change. |
| 116 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I almost had to declare bankruptcy (even though they no longer let you). As it is I have to pay through a credit service because the collectors kept hasseling me and telling me they would garnish my wages (even though I didn't make enough to cover this and was barely paying rent). |
| 117 | Zak | Callaway | Points 4 and 8 were especially relevant for me. I had a number of different loans from different banks, which wasted a lot of time and money. The interest-free grace period was and still is important, as those first six months are often the hardest financially. |
| 118 | Jessica | Allain | These are all valid points that need to be taken into consideration. I've been dealing with student loan nightmares ever since my garduation 4 years ago. |
| 119 | Amara Uma (AMY) | Milligan | Defaulted on student loan (NOT BY CHOICE!!!) because I wasn't earning enough money to make minimum payment as demanded by bank. Automatically sent my file to collection agency. HRDC NO HELP AT ALL!!! I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone in the student loan programme about what debt relief programmes I might qualify for. Collection agencies rude, threatening and abusive. Consequently phone number unlisted. I am quite willing to pay back as much money as possible and I deeply resent being turned into a deadbeat by a government that doesn't seem to care about anything but the bottom line!!! |
| 120 | Erik | Tremblay | I have 4 OSAP request student load held by 4 seperate loan documents, requiring 4 seperate payments. |
| 121 | Anonymous | Anonymous | In 11 years of paying $200- $300 monthly on my student loans, I have decreased the principal by only $12,000 due to variable interest rates of as much as 12%. If I could afford a mortgage (which I can't due to this debt) it would certainly be at a much more reasonable rate of interest. I have acted in good faith and dutifully paid these monies where others haven't, and have sacrificed a 'normal' adult life as a result. Thanks Canada. |
| 122 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I agree that interest rates are far to high for loans. |
| 123 | Anonymous | Anonymous | There are also some students who, due to life events, were not able to finish their studies. This is my situation. I was left with a huge student loan (well two, of course) that I couldn't pay, because I was stuck living month to month on minimum wage, finding it hard to get work (other than HRDC JCPs and whatnot) having no certification beyond grade 12. I'm lucky to have my A+ and Network+ certification now, so I look forward to finding a permanent full-time position that pays well enough to handle all this debt. I just wish I could get out of 'collections', and back to repayment status. What they're asking for is outrageous! |
| 124 | Doug | Bush | I have $41,000 in loans now ($39,000 when I graduated - thanks capitalized interest!), but discovered a loophole that works for myself. I took the 6 mth no interest/no payments period and am instead saving the money I would have put on the student loan and then will put it on at the end of the 6 months, thus saving the interest. This doesn't work for everybody (my income falls below the cutoff), but it's at least a way to stick it back to the government who seems to enjoy sticking it to use.
I was very prudent with my student loans - they paid the tuition, I paid the living expenses through work. Of course I went to school in NS where tuition is extremely high (I'm also from there). I didn't have the option of living at home either.
What bugged me was that some people, through the Millennium Scholarships, basically got rewarded for not working. Thanks government!
I guess I'm just fed up with the entire system. |
| 125 | Brian | Barth | They harass your family you haven't lived with for years. |
| 126 | Anonymous | Anonymous | The current system is extremely unfair and irresponsible. I had my forms lost which resulted in a lost and frustrated student going through hardships trying to get their life back into order. My forms were lost while I was in school and I was almost kicked out of school for non-payment of tuition. |
| 127 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My outstanding student loan situation is killing me. We also need the bankrupcty option reinstated. It's discrimination not to have that option. |
| 128 | Anonymous | Anonymous | We need changes now! |
| 129 | James | Rankine | Graduated in 1996. Have suffered from a mental illness since that time. Unable to keep a full-time job. I took a training course through the government in 1999 when I thought I was getting better but it wasn't the case. As a result not only am I struggling to get my life in check I have over $30 000 in student debt that I can't declare bankruptcy on until 2009 because of the law. I grew up a very responsible person but I find the most disadvantaged people in our society are the ones our system seems to beat up on the most. All I'm asking for is some fairness. |
| 130 | Angella | Lawrence | Its about time something was done about this issue. I've been thru it with the voltures we call collection agency, and once they realize I was not intimidated they backed off, however, I for one had to call on John LeBlanc to ward them off. I was more concern about the calls at work. But thank God for this petition lets see how long its gonna take for the government to get to this matter.
Thanks
A. Lawrence |
| 131 | Clio | Solberg | Medical student continuing studies overseas with the intention of practicing in Canada, and whose Confirmations of Full-Time Enrollment are repeatedly being refused by Canadian Loan holders. My loans were for a 3-yr study period attended in Canada, but I have lost student status on the basis that being a student overseas is NOT recognized as student status by Canada.
And I have never interrupted my studies upon switching countries, and obviously am NOT receiving income, since I'm STILL studying.
Thank you |
| 132 | Linda | Elliott | I went to school in 2003-2004. I am 60 years old and now owe over $15000. in student loans. I have been unable to get a job and I was never sent the papers by Canada Student Loan for the interest relief, even after getting our local MP to talk to them. So interest is adding up every day and I have no hope of ever getting it paid. Something has to change. |
| 133 | Anonymous | Anonymous | student loan defaulted in '99 because of very hard times, now owe $14000, gov. taking GST and tax returns. Credit collectors threatening and intrusive. (TCR & Metropolotan). Starting Credit Councelling program to deal with collectors. |
| 134 | Cheri | Gagnon | I thought my student loan had been completed after not hearing anything for over a year. Suddenly a collection service began calling, harrassing me at my home as well as at work. The collection agent was very rude. It isn't like I don't want to pay my debt, I was under the presumption that it had been paid. Of course the agent wants me to pay this bill all at once. As a single mother with 2 children at home, this is very ridiculous. |
| 135 | dennis | jex | I couldnt get a job after i graduated since i had a crimnal record
At least make sure you give out student loans to people who can pay them
Also, i had to apply 13 times for debt reduction...why the hell is there so much confusion..?
Unbelievable i had to come to canadastudentdebt.ca to get the right answers |
| 136 | Matthew | Jarsky | I fully support all the points outlined in this petition. |
| 137 | Jillian | Hasler | I am a Child and Youth Worker who went to College in Toronto for 3 years. I now work in Residential Care (Group Homes) where I make a very poor salary due to the entire field of social work being grossly underpaid. It is nearly impossible for me to pay off much of my loans each month, and I am hardly paying more than the interest with my monthly payments. I worked extremely hard to get where I am and to make a difference in the lives of youth, and myself among many others deserve a break on our huge debt loads! |
| 138 | Wayne | McCarthy | Improve transfer for post secondary education to reduce overall costs. |
| 139 | Michael | Porter | I have been paying off my student debt for almost 10 years now! I have been ill for 3 years now, and they are persistantly harassing me for money that I cannot afford because I'm on disability. SHAME SHAME SHAME! The government should step up and help people like myself during times of struggle and pain... |
| 140 | Leah | Arseneault-Ledet | About 5 years ago, I was accepted as a student with a permanent disability. Unfortunately, my disability proved too much. Eventually I appled for the PDB. Despite having already been declared as having a permanent disability and being on ODSP, as well as having significant doctor's proof, I was denied and told I couldn't even approve the process. Now, my disability is worse, my extended IR is almost up, and I can barely afford clothes for me or my child, let alone my loan payments. You MUST change the system. PLEASE. |
| 141 | Shakeel | Khan | Students loans should be interest free becuse the government expects graduates to find a job right away and start paying as soon as students graduate. The loan becomes a debt that is like a heavy load on your shoulder that will never get lessen. |
| 142 | Jaime | Lee | I had hard ship paying my loan and Royal bank had turn my student loan to two collection agency so I have to pay both of them with different payment that's suck!!!! |
| 143 | Kathy | Joy | It's about time for something to be done! |
| 144 | Georgie | Slogar | The problems that I have faced with my student loans have been unbelievable. My well deserved grants were taken away because of mistakes which were made due to the fact that the student loan application is ambiguous, vague, and not properly explained in some sections. This is not a mistake that I should be punished for, particularly since it really would not have made a difference to the amount of funding I would have received anyway. The individual that I dealt with at the Ministry was cold, biased, judgemental, and unsympathetic. The people who work for the student loan centre are not properly trained either because each one tells you something completely different about the same issue. I worked hard during my post-secondary studies and graduated with high honours while at the same time juggled part-time work and full-time parenting. These government individuals should be ashamed to let so many people experience continuous financial difficulties, while they earn their ridiculously high incomes and live comfortably. Most of us work just as hard, if not more. |
| 145 | Brad | Perverseff | Seems like a fair notion. |
| 146 | Debbie | Stirling | I got a student loan so I wouldn't have to be a parent on welfare and I could keep my pride & better my life. Going that route has done nothing positive for me but it has hurt my pride! |
| 147 | Andrew | Depedro | The current system used for the student loans repayment program is unfair to both former and current students as one with over $40,000 in accumulated student loan debt just through high interest rates alone will attest. And I'm certain I'm not the only person stuck in this predictament either. |
| 148 | Brian | Vincent | I got a university degree and a two year IT diploma. I am now $80,000.00 in Student Loan debt because of accrued interest. I moved to Calgary from Corner Brook, Newfoundland in October 2005. All of my tax returns since moving here will be seized to pay my Federal Student Loan (Guaranteed). This would be much needed money in a place where my wife and I are living from paycheck to paycheck. Standard of living costs are getting higher and higher. I have not paid a dime on my student loans because since 1999, when I finished school, I was either on Social Assistance, EI, or working low paying dead end jobs. Here is what needs to be done ...
1) Banks should no longer involved. These greedy and selfish middlepeople result in higher costs that are passed down to student loan borrowers so the banks can get their profits too. If the governments can administer social programmes like EI, CPP, and Social Assistance without the need of using banks, then so should the administration of Student Loans. Student loans should be an Interest Free social programme.
2) Also, because a lot of the onus lies with government and private sector employers to actually grant us younger people meaningful jobs. However, a huge majority of employers do not give us the means of a good living and pay down the loans because they are obsessed with hiring only experienced individuals and not fresh minds just out of school. This was the achilles heel that killed my chances at a career. In short, if labour market conditions do not allow young minds to get the good jobs because of a lack of experience the governments should not penalize us for trying. Given many labour market areas and occupations have been in decline or stagnant, pumping out more graduates in the same fields when the number of jobs are not increasing is a recipe for disaster because university and college graduates like myself are a dime a dozen. It is sad when graduates like myself are driving cabs or whatever just to have the basics of living.
3) Any reforms such as the elimination of interest and new grant programmes, etc., should be retroactive to include all borrowers from years gone by who are still owing money on loans.
4) All interest paid on student loans retroactive should be returned to the borrower in the form of a 50% to 100% non-refundable tax credit to be used when filing an income tax return and unused portions be carried over unlimited times into future tax returns. I think that is fair because any such reforms cannot just apply to those in the present, but also those in the past who were put through so much hardship and irreversible damage done.
5) All negative credit report remarks be immediately removed to increase a debtor's credit rating and score.
6) And for God's sake, put money back into Education so tuition, books, and other admistrative fees are reduced to affordable levels.
7) Interest free loan payback rates should be in-line as a maximum percentage of a person's or family's net (not Gross) income.
In a nutshell, two things need to happen: Radical reforms to the administration and policy of student loans AND a change in the approach of how public and private sector employers recruit young people and recognize the potential that fresh young minds can have in the workplace. |
| 149 | Mark | Couzian | I'm very discouraged by the current loans system...I feel I will never be able to pay this debt, I may even regret having gotten an education because of this burden. |
| 150 | Anonymous | Anonymous | When I was sick and had to stop working several years ago, I had nothing but grief from the student loans office, which made my illness worse. The whole SL system is a complete mess. It destroys peoples lives and needs a serious overall. The gov't doesn't give a shit what happens to people after they graduate. |
