One application through your province of residence can assess you for federal and provincial grants and loans. Start with your school's designation, apply at least two months early, and know the difference between money you repay and money you do not.
Applies in: across Canada
Tuition is usually the largest bill in a student's year, and student aid is the main way Canada helps pay it. The system is not one national application. It is one application per student, made to the province or territory where the student lives, which then assesses the student for federal grants and loans and, in most places, for provincial or territorial aid at the same time. Grants are money you do not repay. Loans are money you repay after you finish school. This guide walks through the process only: who applies where, what the application asks for, what the assessment means, and what to do when things change. It gives no advice on whether you should borrow, which school to attend, or what to study.
Start with the two checks that decide everything else. First, your school and program must be designated for funding. The provinces and territories decide which schools, and which programs within a school, can be designated, and the federal pages point students to the master list of designated educational institutions to check. If your program is not designated, student aid cannot fund it, and that is worth learning before you pay a deposit. Second, your course load must meet the threshold for the kind of aid you are seeking. A full-time student must be enrolled in at least 60 percent of a full course load, or at least 40 percent for a student with a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability. A part-time student is enrolled in 20 to 59 percent of a full course load. The program must be a degree, diploma, or certificate program at a designated school, running at least 12 weeks within 15 consecutive weeks. Your school sets what a full course load means for your program, so confirm the number of courses with the school.
The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program offers grants and loans to full-time and part-time students. You apply with one application, through your province or territory of residence. You do not need to pay back grants. You do need to pay back loans after finishing school. You may be eligible for more than one type of grant, and when you apply with your province, the province assesses your eligibility for all grants at once. The federal grant list covers full-time students, part-time students, full-time and part-time students with dependants, students with disabilities, and services and equipment for students with disabilities.
The grant most full-time students are assessed for is the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students. It is available to full-time students in financial need, and you are automatically assessed when you apply for student aid with your province or territory. Until the end of the 2026-27 school year, you could receive up to 4,200 dollars per year, or up to 525 dollars per month of study, and you can receive it for each year of undergraduate study as long as you are still in school full-time. The school year runs from August 1 to July 31.
Family income sets how much of that grant you receive. The thresholds below use the previous year's gross annual family income and took effect August 1, 2026. If your family income is below the maximum-grant figure for your family size, you qualify for the maximum grant. If it is at or above the cut-off figure, you do not qualify for this grant. Between the two figures, the grant is reduced. These thresholds belong to this one federal grant. Provincial and territorial grants use their own rules, and the federal student aid estimator does not take provincial and territorial grants and loans into account.
| Family size | Maximum grant below | No grant at or above |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $38,474 | $69,987 |
| 2 | $54,412 | $98,017 |
| 3 | $66,641 | $117,317 |
| 4 | $76,952 | $129,769 |
| 5 | $86,033 | $141,180 |
| 6 | $94,245 | $151,937 |
| 7 or more | $101,797 | $161,321 |
The loan amount is calculated separately, based on factors that include tuition fees and education costs, your savings and financial contributions, your living situation, your annual income, and, for full-time students, financial assets and investments. To estimate what you might receive in federal grants or loans, use the federal student aid estimator linked from the Canada.ca pages, and treat the result as an estimate. The amount you can actually receive is calculated when you apply, and your Notice of Assessment is the figure that counts.
Two limits shape the whole system. There are lifetime limits on the number of weeks you can receive student aid, including any payment-free or interest-free periods while you are in school: 340 weeks for full-time students, 400 weeks for students enrolled in doctoral studies, and 520 weeks for students with a disability. And you must start paying back your loan six months after you graduate or finish your studies. The six-month figure is the federal repayment start. Provincial loans can carry different repayment terms, so read the terms on your Notice of Assessment and your loan agreement for each loan you hold, rather than assuming one date covers both.
You apply for a Canada Student Grant and Loan online through the student financial assistance site of your province or territory of permanent residence. To qualify, you must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or designated as a protected person; be a permanent resident of a province or territory that issues Canada Student Grants and Loans; and demonstrate financial need. The National Student Loans Service Centre recommends applying at least two months before the start of your program, so that funding is in place on time if you are approved. Some provinces give the same advice in days: Alberta Student Aid encourages students to apply at least 60 days before the study period begins. Either way, the point is the same. Apply early, because processing takes time and a late application can mean starting classes before the money arrives.
Where you apply, and what you receive, depends on where you live:
| Where you live | Apply through | What the application covers |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) | A combination of federal and provincial grants and loans; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| British Columbia | StudentAid BC | A combination of federal and provincial grants and loans; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| Saskatchewan | Saskatchewan student aid | A combination of federal and provincial grants and loans; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick student aid | A combination of federal and provincial grants and loans; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador student aid | A combination of federal and provincial grants and loans; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| Alberta | Alberta Student Aid | A federal grant or loan and a separate provincial grant or loan; repaid through two providers |
| Nova Scotia | Nova Scotia student aid | A federal grant or loan and a separate provincial grant or loan; repaid through two providers |
| Prince Edward Island | Prince Edward Island student aid | A federal grant or loan and a separate provincial grant or loan; repaid through two providers |
| Manitoba | Manitoba Student Aid | One application; see the note below on how the funding is delivered |
| Yukon | Yukon Student Aid | Federal and territorial grants plus a Canada Student Loan; managed and repaid through the National Student Loans Service Centre |
| Northwest Territories | Northwest Territories Student Financial Assistance | The territory's own program; Canada Student Grants and Loans are not available |
| Nunavut | Nunavut Student Funding | The territory's own program; Canada Student Grants and Loans are not available |
| Quebec | Quebec student financial aid | The province's own program; Canada Student Grants and Loans are not available |
Manitoba needs a note, because the two federal pages checked for this guide disagree about it. The Canada.ca overview lists Manitoba among the provinces with integrated federal and provincial grants and loans. The National Student Loans Service Centre application page, checked the same day and crawled more recently, lists Manitoba among the provinces where students may receive two separate grants or loans. This guide does not pick one. If you live in Manitoba, check the Manitoba Student Aid page at application time and read your Notice of Assessment for whether your funding arrives as one combined amount or two separate loans. The application itself is the same either way: one application through Manitoba Student Aid.
Each province adds its own steps and timing on top of the federal process. In British Columbia, you create a StudentAid BC account and log in with a BC Services Card account, add your Social Insurance Number, and wait for the number to be verified, which can take up to 72 hours, before you can apply. Applications for the 2026-27 program year, for studies starting between August 1, 2026, and July 31, 2027, opened in June 2026, and StudentAid BC advises applying early so funding is available when studies begin. In Alberta, you apply online through an Alberta Student Aid account, which needs a verified Alberta.ca account that can take up to 10 days to set up, and applications for the 2026-27 academic year opened June 3. In Ontario, you register for an OSAP account with your Social Insurance Number and basic personal information. The province pages are the authority for each of these steps. If a step on a province page differs from the summary here, follow the province page.
Two province-specific grants are worth knowing about by name, without treating either as a promise. British Columbia's BC Access Grant gives upfront, non-repayable assistance to low- and middle-income students in full-time undergraduate degree, diploma, or certificate programs at BC public post-secondary institutions, and students are automatically assessed for it when they apply, provided they have at least one dollar of assessed financial need. Ontario's Learn and Stay Grant covers tuition, books, compulsory fees, and other educational costs for students in priority post-secondary health care programs in underserved and growing communities, with a service commitment: work in the same service region where you studied for at least 180 days, or six months, for every full year of study funded, or the grant is converted into a repayable loan. Both grants have eligibility rules, eligible programs, and regions that change. Check the program page before you count on either one.
Step one is the application itself. Apply online through your province or territory's student financial assistance site, entering your program, personal, and financial information. If you are a student with a disability, you may be eligible for additional provincial or federal funding, and the application is where that assessment starts. Save the application and return to it if you need to, but submit it in full. You must re-apply for a Canada Student Loan every school year.
Step two is the Notice of Assessment. Your province or territory sends it by mail, online, or by email, and it states whether you qualified for grants and loans and for how much. If you are not approved, or you are not satisfied with the approved amount, contact the student financial assistance office in your province or territory to be reassessed. Do not wait until classes start to query an assessment that looks wrong. The reassessment process takes time, and the money cannot move until the assessment is settled.
Step three is the Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement, or MSFAA. You may be required to complete one if you have not previously completed one. The MSFAA is a legally binding contract. Review it carefully, read the terms and conditions, and make sure you understand your responsibilities before accepting, because acceptance means you agree to be bound by them. Complete it online by registering or logging in to your secure National Student Loans Service Centre account, and include your financial institution information for direct deposit. The MSFAA is a multi-year agreement, so the next time you apply, you normally only complete the application and wait for the new Notice of Assessment.
Step four is the loan documents. Register or log in to your National Student Loans Service Centre account to complete and sign the MSFAA online. If your personal information is not correct, follow the steps on the NSLSC site to update it and contact your provincial or territorial student aid office as well.
Step five is disbursement. If you provided your banking information, your grants or loans will be deposited directly into your bank account or forwarded to your school to pay academic fees, on or after the first day of classes. Providing banking information and choosing direct deposit avoids delays from cheque delivery. While there are exceptions, you normally receive two disbursements in a year, one during your first term and one during your second term. For exact disbursement dates, check with your school's student financial assistance office.
Eligibility is not settled once at application. If your financial situation changes before you start school or while you are studying, you must inform your provincial or territorial student aid office. If your eligibility is reassessed and the amount changes, that office will tell you. If you drop below the required course load, withdraw, or stop attending, the consequences follow the rules of your province's program, and you may be treated as withdrawn for student aid purposes even without a formal withdrawal. The British Columbia pages, for example, treat a student as withdrawn after two consecutive weeks of missed study or three consecutive weeks below 60 percent of a full course load, or 40 percent for students with a disability. Other provinces state their own withdrawal rules. The safe move in every province is the same: report the change promptly, in writing, and keep the reply.
If you do not apply for aid in a semester or year, your school must still complete confirmation of enrolment information, so that your existing loans keep their interest-free and payment-free status while you are in school. This matters most for returning students who assume a previous loan takes care of itself. It does not. Enrolment must be confirmed each period, or repayment can start while you are still studying.
A note on private schools belongs here, because it catches people out. Most students going to private, for-profit schools in Canada are no longer eligible for the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students, although students attending some programs may be exempt from the restriction. If you were not approved for funding and think you or your school may qualify, contact your provincial or territorial student aid office. That note is about the federal full-time grant. Other grants and loans have their own school rules, and designation is the check that answers them.
Student aid is not the only money for studying, but it is the only part this guide covers in detail. A Registered Education Savings Plan can also help pay for studies, and the federal pages list it alongside grants and loans. Scholarships, bursaries, and awards are separate applications, usually through your school or the awarding body, and they are not assessed through the student aid application. Apprenticeship students have their own support: the Canada Apprentice Loan and related grants, covered in the apprenticeship financial support guide linked below. None of these are substitutes for the student aid application, and none of them should be assumed to arrive in time for tuition deadlines. Apply for aid first, on the province's timeline, and treat every other source as additional.
This guide describes process only. It does not recommend borrowing, a school, a program, or a course load, and it does not assess whether you qualify. The figures it carries are the ones verified on official pages at the time of writing: the grant maximum and income thresholds effective August 1, 2026, the course-load percentages, the lifetime week limits, the six-month federal repayment start, and the province application timelines named above. It deliberately carries no provincial grant amounts, no tuition figures, and no total aid amounts, because those depend on your province, your program, and your assessed need, and they change every aid year. Aid years run from August 1 to July 31. Recheck the pages in the Sources list when the 2027-28 aid year opens, and recheck your own province's page before every application, because deadlines, thresholds, and program lists are set one aid year at a time.
Figures this guide deliberately does not carry: provincial grant and loan maximums, tuition or living-cost figures, and any estimate of what an individual student will receive. Those numbers are specific to a province, a program, and an assessment, and a figure carried from another student's file would mislead more than it helps. Where this guide names a number, it is a rule, a threshold, or a date verified on an official page, and the source for it is named in the Sources list.
You apply to your province or territory of residence, through its student aid site, and that single application is how you are assessed for Canada Student Grants and Loans as well as provincial or territorial aid. The federal program works in partnership with most provinces and territories, and the province or territory you live in is the one that receives your application. The one exception to keep straight is that Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut operate their own student aid programs, and Canada Student Grants and Loans are not available to their residents. If you live in one of those three, apply through that jurisdiction's own program. If you move to a different province before you apply, check which province counts as your province of residence before you start, because applying to the wrong province is a common cause of delay.
A grant is money you do not need to pay back. A loan is money you do need to pay back after you finish school. When you apply, your province or territory automatically assesses you for every Canada Student Grant you may be eligible for, including grants for full-time and part-time students, students with dependants, and students with disabilities, plus services and equipment for students with disabilities. The amount you can receive depends on your province or territory of residence, your family income, whether you have dependants, your tuition and living expenses, and whether you have a disability. You do not apply for grants separately. The loan portion is calculated on financial need, and you must re-apply for student aid every school year.
For full-time students, the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students pays up to 4,200 dollars per year, or up to 525 dollars per month of study, until the end of the 2026-27 school year, which runs from August 1 to July 31. You can receive it for each year of undergraduate study as long as you remain in school full-time. Family income decides how much of that maximum you receive. The thresholds use the previous year's gross annual family income and took effect August 1, 2026. For a family of one, the maximum grant applies below 38,474 dollars and no grant applies at or above 69,987 dollars. For a family of four, the figures are 76,952 dollars and 129,769 dollars. The full table is in the guide. These thresholds are for this one federal grant only. Your provincial or territorial grants have their own rules, and the federal estimator does not include them, so use the estimator as a rough check and your Notice of Assessment as the answer.
For a Canada Student Grant or Loan, a full-time student must be enrolled in at least 60 percent of a full course load, or at least 40 percent if the student has a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability. A part-time student is enrolled in 20 to 59 percent of a full course load. Your school decides what counts as a full course load for your program, so ask the school how many courses that means for you rather than guessing from another student's schedule. The program itself must be a degree, diploma, or certificate program at a designated post-secondary school, running at least 12 weeks within 15 consecutive weeks. Dropping below the required course load can change your eligibility, so tell your provincial or territorial student aid office if your enrolment changes.
It depends on whether the school and the program are designated, and on the kind of school. The provinces and territories decide which schools, and which programs within a school, can be designated for funding, and you can check designation through the master list of designated educational institutions or your provincial student aid office. For the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students specifically, most students attending private, for-profit schools in Canada are no longer eligible, although students in some programs may be exempt from that restriction. If you were not approved for funding and you think you or your school may qualify, contact your provincial or territorial student aid office. Do not assume a school is designated because it advertises student loans, and do not pay tuition on the expectation of aid before your Notice of Assessment arrives.
Tell your provincial or territorial student aid office. If your financial situation changes before you start school or while you are studying, you must inform that office, and if your eligibility is reassessed, the office will tell you whether the amount changes. There are lifetime limits on how long you can receive student aid, including interest-free and payment-free periods while you are in school: 340 weeks for full-time students, 400 weeks for doctoral studies, and 520 weeks for students with a disability. You start paying back your loan six months after you graduate or finish your studies. If you take a year off and do not apply for aid, your school must complete confirmation of enrolment information so your loan stays in its interest-free, payment-free state while you are back in school. Keep your loan payment-free by staying enrolled and keeping your enrolment confirmed, and re-apply every school year.