Dominion-Provincial Student Loan Program

What is it?

This was the first federally funded student loan program accessible to university students in Canada. Originally only 5 provinces joined the initiative, but by 1944 all nine provinces were participating. Newfoundland joined the scheme in 1950, a short while after joining confederation in 1949.

It is also known as the Dominion-Provincial Student Aid Program.

When did it begin and end?

The Dominion-Provincial Student Loan Program started in 1939 and developed out of the 1937 Dominion-Provincial Youth Program which was designed to provide vocational training to youth who had been denied access to training during the depression years. In 1964, the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP) replaced the Dominion-Provincial Student Loan Program.

How did it work?

It was based on a matching grants system. If students required financial assistance and were of high academic standing, the Government of Canada in partnership with a provincial government would provide a matching grant to the student. The effectiveness of the program was questionable because it helped on average less than 3000 students per year, while university enrollment increased from just approximately 35,000 in 1939 to over 100,000 in 1960 (Fisher et al, 2005). Additionally, it is estimated the the federal government only spent $5 million total on the program (Canadian Encyclopedia, 2007).

What was its impact?

The main impact of the program was that it firmly established the role of the federal government in the funding of higher education. The controversy surrounding this is that in both the Canadian Constitution and its predecessor, the BNA Act, education is the jurisdiction of the provinces. A matching grants system left the provincial governments vulnerable to interference from the federal government.

Providing education opportunities for Canadians is primarily a responsibility of provincial and territorial governments and their institutions, with private sector institutions playing an important role in some areas, such as skill training. The federal government assists in a variety of ways, including fiscal transfers to provincial and territorial governments1 and support for university research through the research granting agencies.2

References

Cameron, D. M. (2001). Postsecondary education and Canadian federalism: or how to predict the future. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 31(3), 143-156.

Canadian Enclyclopedia. (2007). Financial aid to students. Retrieved October 29, 2007 from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007760

Fisher, D. et al. (2005).Canadian Federal Policy and Post-Secondary Education. Retrieved October 27, 2007 from http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:sud_68-2vUwJ:www.nyu.edu/iesp/aiheps/downloads/finalreports/May%25202005/Canadian%2520Federal%2520Policy.pdf+Canadian+Federal+Policy+and+Post-Secondary+Education&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2

Links

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/hip/cslp/publications/04_pu_AnnualReport19981999.pdf