Vol. 149, No. 12 — June 17, 2015

Registration

SOR/2015-120 May 29, 2015

CANADA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ACT

Regulations Amending the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations

P.C. 2015-632 May 28, 2015

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Employment and Social Development, pursuant to section 15 (see footnote a) of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act (see footnote b), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CANADA STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. Schedule 3 to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the Schedule 3 set out in the schedule to these Regulations.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on August 1, 2015.

SCHEDULE
(Section 1)

SCHEDULE 3
(Paragraphs 14.3(b), 38(1)(d), 38.1(1)(e), 38.2(1)(f), 40.02(1)(d) and 40.021(1)(d))

INCOME THRESHOLDS

Table 1

Low-income Thresholds, 2014 ($)
Province ON NS NB MB BC PE SK AB NL YT
Family Size
(number of persons)
1 24,456 20,960 20,837 24,626 23,883 20,975 21,167 24,601 21,106 24,362
2 30,448 26,093 25,939 30,660 29,734 26,111 26,351 30,628 26,274 30,329
3 37,432 32,078 31,888 37,692 36,555 32,102 32,395 37,654 32,300 37,287
4 45,446 38,948 38,718 45,762 44,381 38,976 39,333 45,715 39,217 45,270
5 51,545 44,173 43,912 51,903 50,337 44,205 44,610 51,851 44,479 51,345
6 58,134 49,822 49,527 58,537 56,771 49,856 50,313 58,478 50,166 57,908
7 or more 64,724 55,468 55,140 65,173 63,207 55,507 56,015 65,107 55,851 64,472

Table 2

Middle-income Thresholds, 2014 ($)
Province ON NS NB MB BC PE SK AB NL YT
Family Size
(number of persons)
1 44,220 38,539 33,682 38,047 41,442 35,382 37,565 47,486 34,011 45,768
2 61,909 53,956 47,156 53,265 58,021 49,534 52,592 66,481 47,617 64 075
3 76,857 67,138 58,517 66,710 75,377 62,973 65,872 79,683 59,491 75,309
4 87,465 76,486 66,581 76,248 87,686 72,511 75,287 89,043 68,760 83,282
5 95,698 83,740 72,834 83,651 97,233 79,904 82,591 96,314 75,945 89,464
6 102,414 89,670 77,941 89,701 105,036 85,950 88,565 102,247 81,820 94,525
7 or more 108,104 94,681 82,263 94,812 111,634 91,055 93,610 107,266 86,784 98,793

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The low-income (LI) and middle-income (MI) thresholds set out in Schedule 3 to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations (the Regulations) are used to determine eligibility based on family income, family size and province or territory of residence for Canada Student Grants (CSG) and Part-time Canada Student Loans (PT-CSL) as follows:

Each year, the LI and MI thresholds are adjusted according to inflation to ensure that students remain eligible for CSGs and PT-CSLs in the subsequent academic year. Without these annual adjustments, the real value of the LI and MI thresholds would decrease, and eligibility for CSGs and PT-CSLs would become more restrictive. If the thresholds are not adjusted, approximately 900 students in the 2015–2016 academic year would be affected in the following ways:

Background

The Government of Canada provides CSLs and CSGs to improve access to post-secondary education through the provision of repayable and non-repayable financial assistance to eligible post-secondary students. Introduced in August 2009, CSGs were a Budget 2008 initiative aimed at improving access to post-secondary education by providing more effective grant funding than the previous mix of Canada Study Grants, Canada Access Grants, and Canada Millennium Scholarship Grants that were available to CSL recipients. Participating provinces (all provinces except Quebec) and one territory (Yukon), as well as the private sector service provider D+H, administer CSLs and CSGs.

A student is eligible for one or more of the following CSGs if their family income is below the LI thresholds, corresponding to his/her family size and province or territory of residence:

A student is eligible for a CSG-MI if their family income falls between the LI and MI thresholds, corresponding to his/her family size and province or territory of residence. The CSG-MI provides qualified students with $100 in non-repayable assistance per month of full-time study.

Finally, a student is eligible for a PT-CSL if their family income is below the MI thresholds, corresponding to his/her family size and province or territory of residence. Part-time students may borrow up to a maximum of $10,000 in PT-CSLs.

Objectives

The objective of this amendment is to ensure that CSGs and PT-CSLs continue to target students from LI and MI families. The amendment will also ensure that the LI and MI thresholds align with inflation so that CSGs and PT-CSLs remain available to LI and MI students to assist with the cost of their post-secondary education.

Description

The amendment will increase the LI and MI thresholds set out in Schedule 3 to the Regulations to reflect growth in the relevant provincial Consumer Price Indices (CPI) between 2013 and 2014 (a period during which the overall Canadian CPI grew by 2%).

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs to small business.

Consultation

Provincial and territorial participants, as well as student and educational stakeholder groups, were consulted during the development and implementation of the CSGs in 2008 and 2009. These partners and stakeholder groups are supportive of the use of the CPI as a proxy to keep LI and MI thresholds up to date.

Rationale

The amendment ensures that eligibility for CSGs and PT-CSLs takes into account inflation, ensuring that LI and MI students continue to have access to grants, and that part-time students retain access to PT-CSLs to support their pursuit of post-secondary education.

Although the amendment does not impact the value of individual grants and loans, approximately 900 students are expected to be impacted by the amendment, through retained eligibility, with an estimated cost to the federal government of $745,000 for the 2015–2016 academic year.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The amendment will come into force on August 1, 2015, in time for the 2015–2016 academic year. Provincial and territorial participants will be made aware of the amended LI and MI thresholds prior to their coming into force to ensure that these thresholds are considered in their analysis of student financial needs. Given that the amendments are routine in nature, no incremental implementation, enforcement or service standard activities are anticipated.

Contact

Atiq Rahman
Acting Senior Director
Canada Student Loans Program
Employment and Social Development Canada
200 Montcalm Street, Tower II, 1st Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0J9
Telephone: 819-654-8456
Fax: 819-654-8398
Email: atiqur.rahman@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca