Workplace Challenges
Threat #1: Labour shortageLose the loan: NWT helps students battle debtThe words “degree” and “debt” seem synonymous. But not for post-secondary graduates from the Northwest Territories, who often qualify for remissible student loans. By Jennifer McFee |
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 [ 2009-03-03 ] |
Many residents of the Northwest Territories can write off up to $60,000 in student debt as long as they live up North after they graduate.
While the Canadian labour market faces a shortage of educated workers, the Northwest Territories has found a way to address both the high cost of education and the shortfall of educated employees in the North.
Decreased debt
Through the Remissible Loan program, students get big bucks deducted from their debt. This amount varies, depending on the student’s ethnic background and where in the territory they live after they finish university or college.
Indigenous residents of the NWT automatically qualify for 20 semesters’ worth of remissible loans.
Non-aboriginal residents qualify to have one semester of tuition forgiven for every year they were students (kindergarten to grade 12) in the North.
Northern residents who didn’t get their primary or secondary schooling in the NWT are only eligible for repayable loans.
Once students graduate, they get $1,000 deducted from their loan every three months if they move to a larger regional centre like Yellowknife, Hay River or Inuvik. However, if they move to a smaller, more remote community, the amount doubles to $2,000.
Plus, the program is virtually risk-free. If a graduate moves back to the territory but can’t find work, the loan is still forgiven.
Northern opportunity
This program has proven popular, since over 1,400 students have accessed financial aid funding so far this year. This bodes well for the future of the territory, where educated workers are in demand.
“The remissible loan encourages students in to go back and work in remote communities,” says Gloria Iatridis, assistant deputy minister for Advanced Education and Careers, adding that the northern communities often face shortages of nurses and teachers.
For more information, visit the Northwest Territories Remissible Loan program
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