Press release
Increases to loans and bursaries and income-contingent repayment:
the Board of Trade is delighted
Montréal, April 5, 2012 – The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is delighted with the increase in financial support to students from middle-class families and the implementation of a new mechanism for income-contingent repayment.
“The Board of Trade proposed this sort of mechanism in 2010 in the Pact for the Competitive Funding of our Universities,” said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. “We congratulate the Minister of Education and the Minister of Finance for having made an enlightened decision that will increase access to higher learning.”
“With this morning’s announcement, we must not lose sight of the fact that our priority is to strengthen our universities in an increasingly competitive environment,” Mr. Leblanc said. “Lifting the ceiling on tuition fees between now and 2017 and the recently improved measures should better equip our universities and help them stay on course for excellence, but this objective must remain an ongoing priority.”
“We hope that the government’s spirit of openness will be received with a similar spirit on the part of the students who are boycotting classes,” Mr. Leblanc said. “Once again, the big winners in a quality education are the students themselves.”
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal is made up of some 7,000 members. Its mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montréal and to provide individuals, merchants, and local businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec's leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Advisor, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Phone: 514 871-4000, extension 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca
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