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Student Loans In Canada
Published: by Personal Finance Advisor under [Personal finance and insurance]How to apply for a student loan in Canada
Today we’re going to be talking about student loans, or more specifically, student loans in Canada. To start out we’re going to cover fairly basic information, just to make sure that you’re on the same page as us. First of all, you might hear the terms loans and grants used interchangeably, but it is important to note that they are not synonymous, and if you treat them as synonyms, you might run into trouble down the road. The main difference, and most important one, between loans and grants is that loans are money that you will have to pay back, whereas grants are money that you do not pay back. This simple distinction between the two terms is a very important one to remember, due to the fact that your financial planning will be thrown off if you think you are receiving money that you do not have to pay back (a grant) when in reality you are receiving a loan.
University of Toronto Student campus - photo courtesy of U of T Mississauga archive
Personal loans for students in Canada
Now that the simple terminology is cleared up, let’s talk a little bit about student loans in Canada. The Canadian Government offers financial supoorting every year to students who are enrolled in post-secondary education across the country. Depending on the student’s financial needs, an amount of money is provided by the Government of Canada, with a maximum amount of $210 per week. This amount is 60% of an amount determined by what is known as the Canada Student Loans Program, or CSLP. Provincial student loans may be awarded to the students to compose the additional 40%.
The Canada Student Loans Program
This program was founded in 1964, and since then it has helped over 4 million Canadian students with financial aid for post-secondary education. The Canada Student Loans Program has given approximately $32 billion to these 4 million students in the form of student loans. From 2006 to 2007 alone, over $1.9 billion was given to nearly 350000 students in the form of post-secondary education student loans.
With regards to student grants, approximately $141 million was given approximately 87000 students in this same time span. This money is given by what is known as the Canada Student Grants Program, and there have been efforts recently to make the Canada Student Grants Program even easier to utilize in order to get the financial support needed by thousands of students each year. The new Canada Student Grants Program hoped to assist nearly 250000 students from 2009-2010 alone, which is nearly three times the number of students assisted from 2006-2007.
The Canada Student Grants Program
The Canada Student Grants Program offers different grants for different students based on their individual needs. For low-income families, students can receive $250 per month of post-secondary education. While slightly less, there are also grants for students who come from idle-income families, and this funding is equal to $100 per month of education. These grants are available for students who meet the criteria, and are in any year of trade school, college, or undergraduate studies. There are also a number of other grants, including grants for students who have permanent disabilities, valued at $2000 per school year.
So with the combination of student grants and loans the Canadian Government is doing its best to ensure that students from different backgrounds are able to afford post-secondary education. Millions of students have received these student loans, and it has enabled them to receive an education that they might not have been able to afford otherwise.