student loans

A student touches his head in frustration while looking at a computer at a desk.
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SFU students struggle to pay tuition due to BC public workers’ strike

Niveja Assalaarachchi December 18, 2025

The BC General Employees Union (BCGEU), which represents over 95,000 workers in the province, began strike action in early September over wage and job condition disputes. Since then, mediation efforts between the provincial government and the union have repeatedly stalled, leaving more than 25,000 workers on job action — and students — in limbo. As of October 26, the BCGEU has reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government, leading to the end of the strike.  The strike impacted several government services, including StudentAidBC, which became inaccessible to students across the province. Many expressed concerns about their inability to pay…

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This is a photo of the SFU Burnaby campus. The outdoor staircase into the convocation mall is shown. The sky is dark and cloudy.
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GradCOLA protests against the student funding crisis at SFU

Natalie Cooke January 23, 2023

On December 12, 2022, the SFU Graduate Student Society (GSS) and Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) organized a noise demonstration in response to the funding crisis that many students across North America face. Most graduate students rely on the income…

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This is a photo of Capitol Hill in Ottawa.
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Ottawa’s fall budget announces new interest-free student loans

Pranjali J Mann November 16, 2022

Low-income workers and students were offered some financial relief in a budgetary announcement from Parliament Hill, Ottawa on November 3. Federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland has proposed waiving federal student loan interest permanently.  In an attempt to provide “a real,…

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a felt bowl of coins
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How to pay off your student loans

Marco Ovies November 25, 2021

Stop spending money on coffee and invest in yourself If you’re spending $6 a day on fancy coffee, you need to stop right now. Instead, use that money to invest in something that will improve you as a student. If…

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2 min 1 1631

BC government approves need-based grant for post-secondary students starting September 2020

Paige Riding March 17, 2020

The Government of British Columbia has announced that their 2020–21 budget will include funding for needs-based grants to assist post-secondary students with funding their education.  StudentAid BC describes the grants as “needs-based, up-front, and available to eligible students each year.” …

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5 min 0 2046

SFSS lobbies provincial government for lower student loans, open access resources, and sexual violence policies

Amneet Mann November 28, 2018

  In a recent lobbying trip to Victoria, student directors from the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) met with provincial government representatives to advocate for restructuring student loans, open-education resources, and a review of the sexual violence and misconduct policies…

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University: draining us financially since 1965 – Part Two

EIC May 16, 2017

If you read The Peak’s article yesterday, you know that with bills stacking up, it can be hard to afford the necessities, let alone the fun stuff. While you may have heard of, or even use a lot of these…

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