Canada Student Loan Bankruptcy Legislation

Bill C-55 has passed Second Reading in the House of Commons and is now going to the Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology for hearings.

In an interesting debate, all parties appear to be generally supportive of the Bill, so it appears increasingly likely that it will pass; the only questions now are when, and with what changes.

Stay tuned to this space for further updates.

Bill C-55 received Second Reading on September 28 and September 29, 2005 in the House of Commons, and has now been referred to a Committee of the House for further study.

Of interest to readers of this blog is the government’s plan to reduce the automatic discharge period on student loans from 10 years to 7 years from when the student ceased to be a full time student.

It is beginning to appear that Bill C-55 is now likely to pass, for the following reasons.

First, the current minority government wants to pass the Wage Earner Protection Plan, a key feature of Bill C-55, in advance of the next election, expected around March, 2006. They obviously hope this “employee friendly” legislation will win them some votes.

Second, as evidenced by the debate in the House of Commons, it appears that all parties support the Bill, at least in principal.

Third, revisions to the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act are long overdue.

Stay tuned to this Student Loan Bankruptcy Blog for further updates.