Liberals write off $200 million in student loans feds will never collect
OTTAWA — The federal government is writing off more than $200 million in outstanding student loan payments that officials will never be able to collect.
Recently released spending documents show the government won’t collect $203.5 million in debts from 34,240 students.
It is the third time in the last four years that the government has had to write off outstanding student loans even as officials make concerted efforts to round up more money from borrowers.
The government annually has to write off some of the $19 billion owing in student loans for a number of reasons: a debtor may file for bankruptcy, the debt itself passes a six-year legal limit on collection, or the debtor can’t be found.