B.C. ditches tuition fees for former youth in care

Premier John Horgan says B.C. has waived tuition at all 25 of its post-secondary institutions for former youth in care to give them a chance to succeed.

He told an audience of students and alumni at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo that the government as parent of foster kids has a responsibility to ensure they are helped on their path to education and a better future.

Youth who were in care for at least two years and who are between 19 and 26 are eligible for the program. Horgan says more support will be announced for young people who were in care in a financial update to the provincial budget on Sept. 11.

George Davison, president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of B.C., supported the provincial government’s approach.

He says with provincewide support, youth who were in care will be able to find new opportunities to improve their futures, adding that 80 per cent of future jobs in the province will require some kind of post-secondary training.

“The provincial government has streamlined what, until today, was a patchwork of different programs and initiatives that provided varying degrees of tuition support to former youth in care, and it has replaced that with a system that is straightforward: tuition-free postsecondary education,” he said in a statement on Friday.

In the 2015-16 school year, the federation says about 150 former youth in care enrolled in tuitionwaiver programs at the 12 postsecondary institutions that offered some form of help.

A fourth-year child and youth care student at Vancouver Island University told the audience that many people in that situation are marginalized and expectations for them are low.

Eligible students who have already paid tuition for September enrolment will get their fees refunded.