B.C. increases student financial aid, eases repayment (flickr.com)

Media Contacts

Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills

Media Relations
250 508-5030

Backgrounders

Province making life more affordable for post-secondary students

Government understands that global inflation and the increased cost of living is creating affordability challenges that affect students. That’s why, since 2017, the Province has implemented new measures to make life more affordable:

Building more affordable student housing:

  • More than 7,700 student housing beds are built or underway, with more to come, so more students can find affordable, on campus housing.
  • The government is investing $575 million for student housing over three years and $1.1 billion over 10 years.
  • Projects underway include:
    • 386 beds at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby with a provincial investment of $73 million; and
    • 217 beds at North Island College with a provincial investment of $75.9 million.

Making tuition more affordable:

  • Former youth in care in B.C. of all ages will have their tuition waived for post-secondary education starting Aug. 1, 2023, as government takes action to remove age requirements for the Tuition Waiver Program.
  • More than 55,000 students have received more than $85 million through the BC Access Grant to help with costs such as tuition and living expenses.
  • The B.C. government has ended interest payments on student loans, saving students approximately $40 million since 2019.
  • Investments in zero-cost textbooks have saved students more than $31 million.
  • The Tuition Limit Policy ensures tuition and fee increases remain low and predictable by maintaining a 2% cap on domestic tuition and mandatory fees annually.