Budget 1998
Canadian Opportunities Strategy - 2
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Archived - The Strategy

The 1998 budget proposes a comprehensive Canadian Opportunities Strategy to expand access to the knowledge and skills Canadians need for better job opportunities and a higher standard of living in the 21^st century.

The Canadian Opportunities Strategy acts on seven fronts to:

• promote access to post-secondary education by helping students in financial need cope with rising costs;
• increase assistance for advanced research and for graduate students;
• help individuals repaying student loans -- especially those in financial hardship;
• help Canadians upgrade their skills throughout their working lives;
• help families save for their children's education;
• encourage employers to hire young Canadians and help young people make the transition to work; and

• help bring the benefits of information technology into more classrooms and communities across Canada.

The strategy builds on actions taken in previous budgets to provide Canadians with enhanced access to knowledge and skills.

The following table outlines the government's expenditures on the Canadian Opportunities Strategy from 1997-98 to 2000-01.

Table 1
The Canadian Opportunities Strategy

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	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01
	(millions of dollars)
Financial assistance to students
Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation	2500
Canada Study Grants		100	100	100
Total	2500	100	100	100
Support for advanced research and graduate students
Granting councils		120	135	150
Helping students manageDebt loads
Tax relief for interest on Student loans		80	130	145
Improvements to the Canada Student Loans Program		50	145	150
Total		130	275	295
Helping Canadians Upgrade their skills
Tax-free RRSP withdrawals for lifelong learning		15	40	45
Tax relief for Part-time students		25	90	90
Total		40	130	135
Encouraging families to Savefor education
Canada Education Savings Grant		150	200	275
Supporting youth employment
EI premium holiday for Youth employment			100	100
Youth at risk		50	75	100
Total		50	175	200
Connecting Canadians to Information and knowledge
SchoolNet/Community Access Program/CANARIE	55	60	70	75
Total measures announced in the budget	2555	650	1085	1230

The Strategy

Providing Financial Assistance to Students

Canada Millennium Scholarships are the centrepiece of the Canadian Opportunities Strategy. They are the single largest investment ever made by a federal government to support access to post-secondary education for all Canadians.

This investment is made possible by Canada's successful battle against the deficit -- and it is an investment that will pay for itself over and over again in the years ahead. As a result, Canadians from across the country will be better prepared to succeed in the knowledge-based economy of the 21^st century. And their success in the economy will translate into our success as a country.

Canada Millennium Scholarships

The Challenge

• To increase access to post-secondary education for more low- and middle-income Canadians.

The Action

• Canada Millennium Scholarships will be awarded to over 100,000 full- and part-time students each year over 10 years, through an initial endowment of $2.5 billion from the federal government.
• The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation will be created as an arm's-length body to manage the endowment and to award scholarships.
• Canada Millennium Scholarships will be awarded to individuals who need help financing their studies and who demonstrate merit.
• For full-time students, scholarships will average $3,000 a year; part-time students will also be eligible.
• Individuals can receive up to $15,000 over a maximum of four academic years of study towards undergraduate degrees, diplomas or certificates. This could reduce the debt load that many recipients would otherwise incur by over half.
• The Foundation will have the discretion to adjust the amounts of the scholarships over time, as well as the total a person can receive.
• Awards will help recipients of scholarships to study away from home, particularly outside their province, and support limited terms of study in other countries.
• Canadians of all ages studying full- or part-time in publicly funded universities, community colleges, vocational and technical institutes, and CEGEPs will be eligible.
• The Foundation will begin awarding scholarships in the year 2000. The initial endowment will be drawn down over a 10-year period and provide about $325 million annually for scholarships.
• The Foundation will be managed by a board of directors made up of private citizens. The government will ensure that a student is among them. The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, representing provincial governments as well as the post-secondary education community, will have a role in identifying directors.
• Once established, the Foundation will consult closely with provinces and the post-secondary education community. The goal will be: to award scholarships by the Foundation to individuals in a manner that avoids duplication in any province, to build on existing provincial needs assessment processes, to complement existing provincial programs, and most importantly, to significantly increase access to post-secondary education everywhere in Canada for low- and middle-income students. The legislation creating the Foundation will provide it with the administrative flexibility required to meet these objectives.
• The Foundation will have the authority, subject to mutually agreed needs, merit and mobility criteria, to contract with appropriate provincial authorities for the selection of those recipients in a province to whom the Foundation will award Canada Millennium Scholarships.

Who Benefits?

• Individuals who need help financing their studies and demonstrate merit can receive up to $15,000 over the course of their studies. This would cut the debt load which many recipients would otherwise incur by over half.
• More than 100,000 full- or part-time students a year will receive scholarships.
• Recipients will include Canadians of all ages who are studying in publicly funded universities, colleges, vocational and technical institutes, and CEGEPs. Studies at private educational institutions may be included at the discretion of the Foundation, provided the institution has an established record of good performance in the course of studies in which the student is enrolled.

Canada Study Grants

The Challenge

• To provide support to students in financial need who have children or other dependants, and whose needs are not fully met by scholarships and student loans.

The Action

• Canada Study Grants of up to $3,000 a year will be made available to full- or part-time students in financial need who have children or other dependants.
• The new grants, which will be provided through the Canada Student Loans Program, will cost $100 million annually.
• This amount includes alternative payments of about $30 million to Quebec and the Northwest Territories, which do not participate in the Canada Student Loans Program but are entitled to a payment under legislation if they have a measure which has substantially the same effect.

Who Benefits?

• Over 25,000 full- and part-time students in financial need with children or other dependants will be eligible for Canada Study Grants, beginning in 1998-99.

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The Strategy

Support for Advanced Research and Graduate Students

Nothing is more critical to determining Canada's economic success in the next century than a vigorous, broad-based research and development (R&D) effort. Private sector innovation is the cornerstone of job creation -- and the more R&D that is done in Canada, the more jobs that will be created for Canadians.

Last year, the government created the Canada Foundation for Innovation to provide support for facilities at hospitals, universities and colleges that will do world-class research. This year, support for researchers will be increased so that the best and brightest can develop their careers in Canada.

Increased Funding for Granting Councils

The Challenge

• To support advanced research and graduate students as they develop the leading-edge skills needed for a knowledge-based economy.

The Action

• The government will increase financial support to three granting councils of Canada -- the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council -- to provide research grants, scholarships and fellowships for graduate and post-graduate students.
• In 1998-99, the granting councils' budgets will be restored to their 1994-95 levels. In the years ahead, these resources will grow further. By 2000-01, they will have received more than $400 million in additional resources and their budgets will be at their highest level ever.
• In addition to these increases, the total funding provided through the granting councils will increase further, over the next three years, as a result of the decision of the 1997 budget to renew the Networks of Centres of Excellence.

Who Benefits?

• The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) supports the advanced training of young people through research. This support is essential for developing researchers and creative innovators who will be active in all parts of Canada's economy.
• The Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) contributes to improving the health of Canadians by providing grants for research in the health sciences and the training of researchers. The MRC also promotes co-operation between university researchers and industry, turning the results of research into marketable products.
• The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) provides grants for basic and applied research in universities and graduate training in the social sciences and humanities. SSHRC promotes the transfer of knowledge in Canada among researchers, research partners, and policy makers to put the benefits of research to work.

Table 2
Granting Council Funding

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	1994-95	1997-98	1998-99	1999-00	2000-01
	(millions of dollars)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC)
Increase announced in 1998 budget			71	78	85
NSERC funding level	493	434	494	495	501
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Increase announced in 1998 budget			40	44	50
MRC funding level	265	238	267	270	276
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Increase announced in 1998 budget		9	13	15
SSHRC funding level	101	94	101	101	103
Total granting councils
Increase announced in 1998 budget			120	135	150
Unallocated Networks of Centres of Excellence funding			11	21	23
Total funding level	859	766	873	887	903
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