News

Today Students Nova Scotia released an open letter to the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, the Honourable Kelly Regan. It addresses the recent announcements by the New Brunswick government that will ensure the affordability of post-secondary education for students from low and middle-income families.

Today, Students Nova Scotia publicly released their submission for the 2017 Nova Scotia budget. The submission, “Investing Smarter in Nova Scotia’s Students” encourages government to make smarter investments by reallocating existing funds to more meaningful programs, expanding the popular “Loan Forgiveness Program” and providing more opportunities for students to work while studying.

This morning, student leaders from across the province arrived in Halifax to kick off their Annual Student Advocacy week. They will be meeting with MLAs and decision makers in the post-secondary education sector to encourage policy changes that will help students on campus.

Today, Students Nova Scotia was pleased to welcome a new loan repayment threshold for graduates that are struggling to repay student debt. Students currently begin paying back student loans when they earn $20,000 a year. As of November 1st, students will not begin repayment on these loans until earning $25,000 a year.

Yesterday, StudentsNS was pleased to see the signing of a memorandum of understanding between government and universities that is a positive step towards more transparency, student support, and consultation expectations for institutions in the Province. The Department of Labour and Advanced Education and the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents signed the MOU to govern a four-year partnership in the sector.

StudentsNS is pleased to welcome Sophie Helpard as its 9th Executive Director. Sophie comes to StudentsNS after serving as President of the University Students’ Council where she represented the 30,000 undergraduate students at Western University in London, Ontario. At Western, she studied Political Science at Huron University College, an affiliated liberal arts college on campus.

StudentsNS is calling on the government to support the passage of Bill 164 put forward by the Progressive Conservatives. The bill introduced this week is similar to the New Democratic Party’s Bill 114, but addresses the previous concerns StudentsNS had. Bill 164 calls for the necessary action surrounding sexualized violence prevention.

Students in Nova Scotia are disappointed that today’s budget address missed the mark on post-secondary education. In fact, the budget address delivered by Minister Delorey provided few supports for post-secondary students.

The St. Francis Xavier Students’ Union (The U) has signed a historic agreement with the St. Francis Xavier Board of Governors (The Board). The two parties agreed to the terms of the agreement last week, after months of collaborative consultation. The U President, Troy Mrazek, and University President, Dr. Kent MacDonald, signed off on the agreement Wednesday March 2, 2016.

Last week, StudentsNS successfully held advocacy meetings with MLAs from all three provincial parties. Delegates from StudentsNS’s member schools met with approximately half of the sitting Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) over the course of two days.