Bill C-217 Disabled Student Financial Assistance Act
C-217 An Act to Amend the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Income Tax Act
Short Title: Post-Secondary Education Financial Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway)
Status: Outside the Order of Precedence — First Reading June 19, 2025. This Bill hasn't passed yet.
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WHO GAINS POWER
- The Minister responsible for the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act gains authority to pay tuition fees directly to post-secondary institutions on behalf of eligible Canadians with disabilities
- The Governor in Council gains regulation-making power to set the conditions under which tuition payments can be made
WHO LOSES POWER
- Designated educational institutions have no say in whether a qualifying student's tuition is paid by government — the payment is mandatory if conditions are met
- Parliament has no approval role over the conditions set by regulation — those are determined by the Minister
WHO GAINS MONEY
- Canadians with disabilities who qualify under section 118.3 of the Income Tax Act — government pays their tuition fees directly to their post-secondary institution
- The tuition payment is deemed a grant — it does not need to be repaid
- The grant is tax-exempt — it is excluded from taxable income under the Income Tax Act
WHO LOSES MONEY
- The federal government — tuition costs for all qualifying Canadians with disabilities at designated post-secondary institutions
- No cost estimate or cap is written into the Bill
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ This Bill is unlikely to pass — it is an opposition Private Member's Bill introduced by an NDP MP in a Liberal-majority Parliament. Private Members' Bills from opposition members rarely pass without government support
- ⚠️ "Eligible" is not defined in the Bill itself — qualification is tied to section 118.3 of the Income Tax Act (the disability tax credit), which has its own application and approval process. Not all Canadians with disabilities qualify
- ⚠️ The conditions for payment are set entirely by regulation — the Minister determines what conditions must be met before tuition is paid, and those conditions can be changed without a vote in Parliament
- ⚠️ No cost estimate or funding cap is included — the Bill creates an open-ended payment obligation with no ceiling
- ⚠️ "Designated educational institution" follows existing definitions — not all post-secondary programs or institutions qualify
- ⚠️ The Minister controls which institutions receive tuition payments and under what conditions — with no independent oversight, audit requirement or parliamentary approval of those conditions. This creates a structural accountability gap in how public funds flow to post-secondary institutions.
The Bill creates a direct payment flow: Minister → designated institution → on behalf of student. The conditions for payment are set entirely by regulation, meaning the Minister decides:
- Which conditions must be met
- Which institutions qualify as "designated"
- How and when payments are made
That's a significant concentration of discretionary power with no parliamentary oversight on the conditions. In theory a Minister could:
- Favour certain institutions over others through how "designated" is defined or applied
- Set conditions that funnel payments toward specific programs or schools
- Adjust regulations without a vote to benefit connected institutions
It's not an accusation — it's a structural gap. The Bill has no transparency requirements, no audit mechanism and no independent oversight of how the Minister exercises that discretion.