"Young people in Canada deserve a quality education that doesn't leave them with a debt sentence,” Green Party leader Elizabeth May said today at St. Francis Xavier University.

Ms. May said that the Green Party will boost financial support for students through a Canadian National Student Loan and Bursary Program. The Greens will also forgive 50 per cent of a student loan for those who complete a degree or certificate program.

The program would end what Ms. May noted is a double penalty, where students must pay onerous fees and then, interest on the money they were forced to borrow to pay for tuition. To make matters worse, this is at a financially vulnerable point of most students’ lives.

The Green Party would also increase federal transfer payments to the provinces for post-secondary institutions, Ms May told enthusiastic students during a campaign stop at the Antigonish campus. “Canadian universities need stable and reliable funding to ensure they are not captive to corporate philanthropy.”

The funding plan will help to bring Canada's education system up to a level needed to ensure innovation and create jobs for a prosperous, sustainable economy.

In addition, the Green Party will target research grants to institutions with a specific focus on applied research to support new technologies in renewable energy, smart growth and energy conservation.

It will also expand industry-based job training and apprenticeship programs to reduce Canada’s growing shortage of trained workers.