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By Derek Craddock

ADVOCATING FOR P.A.

Concerns arise that P.A. won’t be eligible for expanded loan forgiveness program

May 20, 2024 | 6:00 AM

There is concern that a student loan forgiveness program for social care workers and other professionals won’t be coming to Prince Albert.

As part of the 2024 Federal Budget, released on April 16, the Liberal Government announced it would be expanding the Student Loan Forgiveness Program to several health care professions in rural and underserved communities.

This includes Early Childhood Educators, Midwives, and Social Workers.

The program is not expected to start until 2025 and while the eligibility requirements are still being ironed out, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) said they’ve been told the benefits would be available to those practicing in communities with less than 30,000 people.

Prince Albert’s population stands at just over 37,000, according to the 2021 Census, which automatically makes it ineligible for the loan forgiveness program.

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However, the CASW is advocating for Prince Albert to be eligible given that it serves as a gateway community to many rural and remote communities.

“A social worker based in Prince Albert, they might be driving a few hours every day to reach sort of like very northern, very remote clients,” said Director of Policy, Sally Guy.

Guy added that the CASW has already had three meetings with the Federal Department of Economic and Social Development which is overseeing the loan forgiveness program.

The department said there will soon be public consultations on the eligibility requirements, with dates still to be set.

As part of those conversations, Guy is hoping that the Federal Government will consider communities holistically.

“We understand there has to be some structure, and that they’re using this 30,000 population as a benchmark for community size, which is fine,” she said. “But let’s use that as a beginning and bring in some metrics for extenuating circumstances or factors.”

Those factors include whether it is a Northern Canadian community, how spread out the area is, and whether there is a large Indigenous population where Indigenous social workers and clients would benefit in terms of social workers being incentivized to stay there or to move there.

Beaonca Meier is a Registered Social Worker in Prince Albert who spoke to paNOW about her concerns regarding loan forgiveness eligibility.

She agrees with what the CASW is saying about Prince Albert and why it should be considered for the loan forgiveness program.

“Prince Albert serves so many communities in northern Saskatchewan that it is arguably considered remote based on its geography from other major cities,” she said. “There is a disproportionate number of social issues and chronic shortage of health professionals here.”

Of greater concern to Meier is the possibility that fewer people would relocate to Prince Albert to become a social worker and that many people would relocate to larger centres or different communities that will be eligible for the loan forgiveness benefits.

“I worry that this could be detrimental to our community which already struggles with the disproportionate number of social issues owing in part to its unique position as the gateway to the north,” she said.

“That’s not to say that Prince Albert definitely will or won’t be included in the program, but as of now, we really won’t know for sure until the federal government decides to share that information with us.”

Meier has already brought those worries to CASW who informed her they would continue to advocate on behalf of social workers like her.

Guy said they have been pushing for a loan forgiveness program since 2016 and they were excited to see those benefits show up in the federal budget.

Eligibility for the program will be based on the postal code where a worker practices and not necessarily where they reside, but Guy admitted those details are still being discussed.

“Maybe they’re living in Prince Albert but really, they’re seeing clients in this postal code, this postal code and this postal code. Is it possible to sort of enter those client postal codes because that’s where the work is really taking place,” she said.

Through all of this, Guy said she’s encouraged that the government is taking steps to ensure that health care and social care workers are getting the benefits they need in rural and remote areas.

I do believe that they don’t want any unintended policy consequences, they don’t want to be creating a situation where they’re actually encouraging more folks to leave for those bigger areas like Saskatoon or Regina, which I think is already a problem for places like Prince Albert,” she said. “So those are the things that we’re going to be keeping in mind…at the forefront of our conversations with the Minister’s office.

paNOW has reached out to the Department of Economic and Social Development for comment and are awaiting a reply.