Investing in the future: Eliminating financial barriers for nursing students
Investing in the future: Eliminating financial barriers for nursing students presents the case for why governments in Canada should invest in nursing students to support them through their academic journey. The report was authored by Eyasu Yakob, a past president of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association (CNSA) and former member of CFNU’s National Executive Board. It highlights key findings from the inaugural national student survey across Canada, conducted by Viewpoints Research in partnership with the CFNU and CNSA.
The report’s recommendations are the following:
Provincial/territorial governments
- Introduce paid preceptorships for final-year nursing students.
- Increase the availability of employment opportunities for nursing students.
- Improve financial support available to nursing students by providing grants, bursaries, remote travel funding and free hospital parking.
- Ensure access to mentorship programs once employed.
Federal government
- Introduce grants to nursing students in the form of annual grants or grants that correspond to preceptorship or program completion.
- Improve the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness program for nurses working in underserved rural and remote communities by expanding it to include nurses working in under-resourced urban settings.
- Introduce income tax deductions for expenses that nursing students incur while completing clinical placements in rural or remote areas.
