Bill C-688

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63-64 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014-2015

house of commons of canada

BILL C-688

An Act respecting the development of a national strategy on student loan debt

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Student Debt Relief Act.

NATIONAL STRATEGY

2. (1) The Minister of Employment and Social Development, in consultation with rep-resentatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for education, must develop and implement a national strategy with the objective of reducing student loan debt that includes a review of the following possibilities:

(a) reducing student loan interest rates to prime rate;

(b) introducing incentives to complete a degree, including a form of loan forgiveness; and

(c) introducing a rewards system, including the possibility of interest-rate reductions, for on-time payments of loans.

(2) The Minister must, within six months after the day on which this Act comes into force, convene a conference with representatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for education for the purpose of developing the national strategy.

3. (1) The Minister of Employment and Social Development must prepare a report setting out the national strategy and cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on the later of December 31, 2017 and the day that is two years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.

(2) The Minister must post the report on the departmental website within 10 days after the day on which the report is tabled in Parliament.

REVIEW AND REPORT

4. Within five years of the tabling of the report referred to in section 3, and every five years after that, the Minister of Employment and Social Development must prepare a report on the effectiveness of the national strategy, setting out his or her conclusions and recommendations regarding the strategy, and cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting.