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Student debt 'crisis' spurring growth of sugar babies in Canadian universities: report

Sugar daddy website SeekingArrangement.com says there are an increasing number of students are turning to their services due to rising debt levels.
Sugar daddy website SeekingArrangement.com says there are an increasing number of students are turning to their services due to rising debt levels.

One of the largest sugar daddy sites said its ranks are growing at universities because of a “crisis” in terms of student debt levels in Canada.

SeekingArrangement.com released its annual list of membership at Canadian institutions last week.

Courtesy SeekingArrangements.com
Courtesy SeekingArrangement.com

The University of Alberta saw the biggest increase from the previous year, with 138 students signing up as sugar babies in 2016. A total of 422 students at the institution are now members of the site.

The most sugar babies on the site are from the University of Toronto, with 683 registered members as of January 11, when the report was published.

In total, 206,800 students in Canada are currently enrolled on SeekingArrangement.com, up from 156,000 as of December 2015.

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The CEO of SeekingArrangement.com, Brandon Wade, pointed to the growing numbers as a sign that students are struggling to pay for their education.

“We are in the middle of a serious crisis,” Wade said in a statement.

“Students know they must acquire a degree if they hope to look forward to higher salaries, but how can they achieve that if these institutions continue to raise prices?

Some see this as a controversial solution. But, instead of waiting for the government to take action, these students are taking matters into their own hands.”

SeekingArrangement.com also has a running clock tracking the overall level of debt for students in Canada.

Courtesy of SeekingArrangement.com
Courtesy of SeekingArrangement.com

In May 2016, the Canadian government said that average student debt is now over $25,000 after graduation.

Sugar baby is a nickname for a young person (generally female) who agrees to spend time with an older person (generally male, hence “sugar daddy”) in exchange for money and gifts. Sex is only part of the arrangement when the sugar baby explicitly says that’s what they’re looking for.

In an interview with Yahoo Canada last year, one female sugar baby said that in exchange for the $1,000 allowance she gets monthly from her sugar daddy, she spends time with him but the relationship is non-sexual.

SeekingArrangement.com gives sugar babies who sign up space to make their expectations clear. In Hannah’s case, she set a $1,000 minimum and the stipulation that she is only looking for a platonic relationship.