e-344 (Post-secondary education)

Petition to the Government of Canada

• The Post-Secondary Student Support Program provides financial support to First Nations and Inuit college and university students;
• Annual funding increases to the PSSSP have been capped at 2% since 1996;
• Indigenous youth are the fastest growing demographic in Canada;
• Thousands of Indigenous learners are denied support every year due to a funding shortfall;
• In August 2015, Justin Trudeau made a promise to invest $50 million per year in the PSSSP;
• The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples affirms post-secondary education as a right of Indigenous people;
• Canada endorsed the UNDRIP in 2012;
• The TRC calls on the federal government to “provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education”;
• In December 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau promised to take immediate action on all TRC recommendations;
• In April 2016, the Supreme Court ruled the federal government has a constitutional responsibility to Métis and First Nations people without registered Indian status, including the delivery of social programs and services;
• Educational attainment levels among Indigenous peoples remain significantly lower than non-Indigenous peoples;
• The failure of successive federal governments in upholding its responsibility for Indigenous peoples’ education has left a gap in quality of life; and
• In the 2016 federal budget, Prime Minister Trudeau failed to deliver on his commitment to invest $50 million per year in the PSSSP and instead invested no new funding in the PSSSP.