Tuition fees went up over three per cent for most post-secondary students in Canada this September, reaching a level that the Canadian Federation of Students says many can’t afford.

Statistics Canada claims tuition fees are now an average of over $5,700 a year.

In BC, students actually pay around $700 less. Despite that, Katie Marocchi with the federation says the high cost of living in this province can make things even more difficult.

“We are calling for a national strategy on tuition fees for post secondary education on a federal level. On a provincial level, we are calling on our governments to have more aggressive action on tuition fees.”

She also claims most students graduate with around $35,000 of debt and many are unable to find jobs right away. “Having these back-end financial aid, band-aid solutions… that doesn’t address the systemic issue of student debt and skyrocketing tuition fees.”