Statement - Minister Valcourt encourages the use of Personal Education Credit Deadline Extension

OTTAWA, Jan. 30, 2015 The Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, today issued the following statement regarding the extension of deadlines for the use of Personal Education Credits.

"The Supreme Court of British Columbia accepted our request to extend the deadlines for Personal Education Credits so that Common Experience Payment recipients or their family members have more time to access funding in support of education opportunities.

Personal Education Credits are an important initiative under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the extended deadlines will help ensure that as many Common Experience Payment recipients or their family members as possible can take advantage of the training and education opportunities to which they are entitled.

The new deadlines to apply for and redeem Personal Credits as follows:

• March 9, 2015, is the new deadline for Common Experience Payment recipients to submit an application for Personal Credits.
• June 8, 2015, is the new deadline for approved education entities and groups to submit Redemption Forms for payment.
• August 31, 2015, is the new deadline for CEP recipients, or their family members, to complete courses or programs for which Personal Credits are used.

In order to properly promote awareness of these deadline extensions, we will be publicizing the new deadlines over the coming weeks in radio, print, and social media. For more detailed information please visit Residential Schools Settlement – Official Court Website or call 1-866-343-1858."

Associated Link

Official Court Website

SOURCE Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada

Emily Hillstrom, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, 819-997-0002; Media Relations, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, 819-953-1160; You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds or e-mail. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.aandc.gc.ca/subscriptions.