Standing against a backdrop of students from Sheridan College, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff unveiled a plan Tuesday to give students up to $1,500 a year for post-secondary education.
The so-called "learning passport" would result in $1,000 per year for all students moving from high school to college or university, up to a maximum of $4,000. Students from low-income families would receive $1,500 a year, up to $6,000 over four years.
The permanent measure would cost $1 billion per year, and would be funded by the cancellation of planned corporate tax cuts. Ignatieff said a Liberal government could have the initiative in place by 2012.
"It's a billion dollars of new money to make us the best educated country on the planet," Ignatieff said.
The money would be delivered through already established Registered Education Savings Plans, and the money would be available to students as soon as they enroll, he said during a news conference in Oakville, Ont.
"When you show up at Sheridan or any of these great institutions across the country...you get to draw out that money -- $1,000 a year or $1,500 a year. If you don't show up, if you don't register, you don't get the money."
The announcement marked Ignatieff's first policy promise of the campaign.
Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, called the policy an "important plan" but stressed that there must be more funding to create spaces at schools.
"Affordability is a factor, but so is capacity and accessibility. We have to make sure the space is there for students,'' he told CTV's Power Play Tuesday.
He said the post-secondary education system has accommodated 57 per cent growth over the last 15 years.
"There's a lot of pressure on the system. It's a good thing Canadians want to get to university. It's a good thing political parties want to get more Canadians into university. We have to look at a range of mechanisms," he said.
Zach Dayler, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, sounded a similar note.
"It's positive that we are seeing education take the forefront of the campaign in the first four days," he said. "It's incredibly important to get students in the door."
He also said that there must be more funding for post-secondary education so that "capacity doesn't fall on the shoulders of students' tuition fees."
NDP Leader Jack Layton also made his first campaign pledge Tuesday, promising to reduce credit card fees and tackle household debt.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has kept the focus squarely on the threat of an opposition coalition since Saturday, when the election campaign started.
He has repeatedly warned that the Liberals and NDP would quickly form a coalition with the Bloc Quebecois in order to take power, if the Conservatives were to win another minority government.
Ignatieff and Layton are seeking to shift the focus back to their own platforms and the Conservatives' ethical troubles, reminding Canadians that the government was recently found in contempt of Parliament over a lack of transparency on its policies and spending.
Income-splitting measure
On Monday, Harper proposed an income-splitting measure he said would eliminate tax unfairness for Canadian families.
However, the measure wouldn't come into effect until after the budget is balanced -- something that is not expected to happen until 2015 at the earliest.
At a campaign stop in Saanich, British Columbia on Monday, Harper said his party's top priority is still "completing the economic recovery and eliminating the deficit without raising taxes."
The 2010-11 deficit sits at $40.4 billion, down from a previous projection of $45.4 billion.
