As in the United States, Canadian students seeking student loans from the government, must demonstrate the financial need to cover their educational expenses. A good site for information on this is at www.HRDC.gc.ca.
Here you can learn not only about student loans but student grants as well. The difference between a loan and a grant is that you must repay a loan, but you do not have to pay back a grant. (We’ll get into student grants in later articles.)
At the site you can learn everything you need to know about Government Student Loans. You can determine whether or not you qualify for a Canada Student Loan by completing a student profile online. The more accurate you input your profile for your situation, the more relevant the information. One thing to note is that you do not necessarily need to be a full time student to qualify for a Canada Student Loan. Part time students can also qualify. As mentioned above, all students need to demonstrate a financial need for the loan.
If you qualify for a Canada Student Loan, you will receive only 60% of your assessed needs. Before being considered for a Canada Student Loan you must first apply for assistance from your province or territory. You will automatically be considered for a Canada Student Loan after applying to your own province or territory.
Students from Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories do not qualify for Canada Student Loans. Also note that you need to apply every year to receive funding.
While on the HRDC site you will also find a section called CanLearn where you will find tools such as:
- - a Financial Planner to help you determine costs associated with your post-secondary education as well as other expenses
- - a Student Planner which includes directories of institutions, extra learning opportunities and more
- - a Loan Repayment Calculator to estimate your monthly repayment amounts
- - a Student Loan Estimator that can be used to estimate how much assistance a student could potentially receive from the Canada Student Loan Program as well as other funding authorities throughout Canada
You can check out Service Canada for more information on student loans as well as other information from starting your own business, retirement planning, having a baby and more. You will also find other services here that may assist you such as legal assistance, immigration and housing.
If you have already received a Canada Student Loan, another resource that Canadian students can check out is the National Student Loans Service Centre. Here you can check the status or even the balance of your student loan. You can also review any details of newly received loans, update your contact information, and review your loan payment history.
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