June 6, 2022

BURNABY – Simon Fraser Student Society has successfully submitted its 2023 budget recommendations to the B.C. Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.

Each year, student societies, alongside all British Columbians, are invited to provide written recommendations to the Province to consider for the provincial annual budget. Organizations are asked to focus on three recommendations to provide to the Committee.

Our three recommendations included:

  • Increasing financial access to post-secondary education by implementing a tuition freeze by 2023 and providing grants, scholarships, bursaries, and subsidies for BIPOC, migrant/international and low-income students aimed toward affordable post-secondary education and housing;
  • Providing expanded accessibility and health services including dedicated funding towards equitable academic accommodations, counselling and other mental health services, and physical and technical infrastructure for universal design in the campus environment and in the online and in-person classroom;
  • Providing rent subsidies and affordable, accessible and pet-friendly housing options for post-secondary students with strong student renters protections on and off-campus.

“With each passing year, the cost of being a university student becomes more challenging” said Eshana Baran, SFSS VP External & Community Affairs. “Our 2023 budget recommendations are common sense solutions that have the potential to significantly reduce barriers to accessing post-secondary education, especially for marginalized and equity-seeking communities”, she added.

The SFSS Executive Committee hopes that during a time of economic recovery, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the provincial government will take bold action to address student affordability.

You can view our full list of recommendations here.

Simon Fraser Student Society will also be presenting its recommendations to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services virtually on June 7, 2022.

CONTACT:

Eshana Baran, Vice-President External & Community Affairs

vpexternal@sfss.ca