Students Respond to 2023-24 Budget

Students Respond to 2023-24 Budget 

Halifax, NS - Today, the Government of Nova Scotia released its 2023-24 Budget, which saw investments in priority areas including healthcare, skilled trades and immigration. Students Nova Scotia is pleased to see additional funding for Student Financial Assistance, which we hope will be used to reduce financial barriers to education by sustainably modernizing student loan maximums. However, we are concerned to see a number of missed opportunities to invest in students through innovative and experiential learning programs shown to strengthen the accessibility and quality of education in Nova Scotia. 

“We are pleased to see further funding committed to Student Financial Assistance in today’s Budget, and are hopeful this investment will be allocated to support students in the greatest financial need by increasing maximum assistance levels in 2023-24”, says Ben Fairhurst, Vice-Chair of Students Nova Scotia. “The creation of one-time COVID-19 bursaries have provided critical relief to students in recent years, but sustainable and predictable increases to maximums are critical in ensuring students have the means to address the growing gap between available resources and the real costs of education in Nova Scotia.”

Indeed, students have been particularly impacted by rising affordability pressures, with no corresponding increases to Student Financial Assistance since 2017 leading nearly 1 in 5 student loan borrowers to face unmet need even prior to the pandemic. Short-term doubling of low-income Canada Student Grants over the course of the pandemic bridged this gap somewhat; however, with federal grant doubling set to conclude in 2023, low-income students are set to lose $3,000 in funding for the upcoming academic year. Approximately half of Nova Scotia student loan borrowers receive low-income Canada Student Grants. 

Today’s budget also provided an opportunity for strategic government investments in innovating and modernizing the postsecondary sector. Though pleased to see a continued emphasis on initiatives such as micro credentialing, limited additional funding was announced for student priorities such as work-integrated learning, academic accessibility & Open Educational Resources (free, open source alternatives to traditional and costly textbooks).

“Though investments in student internships and healthcare research are critical to strengthening our province, we remain concerned about the lack of new funding for programs such as CO-OP and Graduate to Opportunity that continue to see demand exceeding available resources,” says Sadie McAlear, Acadia Students’ Union president,  “Similarly, innovative programs such as AtlanticOER have saved students upwards of $350,000 over 2 years, yet Budget 2023-24 saw no financial commitments to support the program beyond its pilot phase.”

“As highlighted in today’s address, bringing more young people to the province is critical to the  transformation of our economy,” says Kyle Cook, Chair of Students Nova Scotia. “Given that postsecondary education is a key driver of economic and population growth, students and graduates have a critical role to play. We look forward to continued conversations with the government to ensure that postsecondary education is affordable, accessible and of a high quality for all Nova Scotians, especially as the Memorandum of Understanding with Nova Scotia’s universities is renewed and we work towards realizing the Accessibility Act for built infrastructure and education by 2030.” 

StudentsNS is the largest student advocacy group in the province, representing 20,000+ students across Nova Scotia.

For more information, contact Lydia Houck, Executive Director 

director@studentsns.ca | 1-(902-476-2367