Keep Canada Student Grants for RMTs
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to keep Canada Student Grant eligibility for British Columbia's provincially regulated Registered Massage Therapy programs and exempt them from policy changes restricting this aid.
Why we would sign this petition
- Keeps financial support that helps students afford provincially regulated RMT programs, making it easier to train practitioners needed in BC.
- Supports maintaining the supply of regulated healthcare providers who contribute to patient care and access across British Columbia.
- Helps address projected workforce gaps—WorkBC forecasts large growth and thousands of openings for massage therapists—by sustaining graduate numbers.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Maintaining grant eligibility may divert limited federal student-aid resources from other priorities or fields with greater national need.
- Federal student grants may be a blunt tool for a provincially specific workforce issue; provincial training or targeted incentives could be more efficient.
- Exempting BC RMT programs risks creating precedent and administrative complexity by treating one province or profession differently from others.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
PETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA WHEREAS Registered Massage Therapists (RMTs) are regulated healthcare professionals who provide important patient care and help improve access to healthcare services across British Columbia; Massage therapy is a high-demand occupation in British Columbia, with WorkBC projecting a 49% growth rate in the demand for massage therapists or approximately 3,700 job openings between 2025 and 2035; Canada Student Grants help students access regulated Registered Massage Therapy programs, and restricting eligibility could reduce the number of graduates entering a profession that is needed to meet workforce demand. THEREFORE Therefore, we, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to maintain Canada Student Grant eligibility for provincially regulated Registered Massage Therapy programs in British Columbia and to exempt such programs from any policy changes that would restrict access to this financial support.
Government response
No government response is available yet.