Starting University or College in Canada Checklist

The short answer

Work the list in order: student aid first, then grants and tuition help, then a Social Insurance Number if you will work, then the loan agreement — and know the repayment rules before you borrow. Student aid in Canada runs through the province or territory where you live: Canada Student Loans are applied for with one application through your province or territory, and that application is also how you are considered for grants. This checklist gives you the order and the links; the guides it points to carry the step-by-step detail.

The checklist, in order

Work down this list and check each item off only when it is done.

• Apply for student aid through your province or territory. One application covers loans and grants from your province and the federal government. In Ontario, apply through OSAP; in Alberta, through Alberta Student Aid; in British Columbia, through StudentAid BC. If you live anywhere else, check your province's aid page and apply there — do not apply through another province's program. Alberta Student Aid advises applying at least 60 days before classes start, and StudentAid BC sets the latest application at 6 weeks before your study period ends.
• Look for grants and other tuition help before you settle on borrowing alone. Grants are not repaid. Our tuition guide walks through the grants, bursaries, and other routes that can cut what you need to borrow, including the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students and the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant.
• Get a Social Insurance Number if you do not have one and you plan to work. You need it for paid work — on campus, co-op, or part-time — and student aid applications ask for it. A Social Insurance Number is a 9-digit number you need to work in Canada or access government programs and benefits, and anyone 12 years or older can apply for their own, per Service Canada. StudentAid BC verifies your number, which can take up to 72 hours, so do not leave this to the week classes start. Our Social Insurance Number guide covers the online, mail, and in-person routes.
• Sign the Master Student Financial Assistance Agreement (MSFAA) and confirm your enrolment. The MSFAA is the lifetime student loan agreement, and your school must confirm you are registered in the program you stated before money is sent — both points are stated on the Alberta Student Aid application page. The OSAP guide walks through signing the MSFAA and checking your Notice of Assessment; the same agreement step applies in the other provinces.
• Know how repayment works before you borrow. Loans are borrowed money you must repay when you finish your studies, and your loans enter repayment once at least six months have passed since you graduated or left school, per the Repayment Assistance Plan page. If payments are unaffordable later, that plan can reduce them or bring them to zero for six months at a time, based on your income, and you must reapply every six months. Our loan forgiveness guide covers the repayment routes, including forgiveness for working in a small or rural community.
• If you cannot attend in person, check the remote study route before you rule it out. Our remote study guide covers open-admission and distance options, transfer credit, and prior learning assessment — including Athabasca University, which admits learners 16 and older to most undergraduate programs, and Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning, where you can register for individual courses without program admission.
• Start building a credit file. A credit file takes time to build, and starting while you study beats starting after you graduate. Our credit guide starts with a free check of where you stand, then a secured card and the five habits that move the number. Do not take on credit card debt to pay tuition.
• Keep every letter and notice your aid office and the National Student Loans Service Centre send you. Your Notice of Assessment, your MSFAA, and any loan correspondence are the records that decide what you owe and when. Save them where you can find them again, and check the loan forgiveness guide if a letter mentions repayment assistance or forgiveness.

If any of these apply to you, add them

• You are studying part-time. Student aid is calculated differently for part-time students, and the application process differs too, per Alberta Student Aid. In Alberta, part-time students download a paper application form; in Ontario, OSAP takes part-time applications online. Confirm with your school whether you count as full-time or part-time before you apply, because your school decides that from your course load.
• You have a disability. You may be eligible for additional provincial or federal funding, per StudentAid BC. In Alberta, first-time applicants submit a Schedule 4 form plus medical documents, per Alberta Student Aid. Start this early: medical documentation has its own deadlines.
• You are returning to school with an existing student loan. You do not need to make payments on existing student loans if you return to school, per the Repayment Assistance Plan page — but tell the National Student Loans Service Centre you are back in full-time study, and confirm your enrolment, so interest and payments stay paused while you study. If the federal government has already paid towards your principal while you were on repayment assistance, you cannot receive more student grants or loans until you pay the unpaid loans back.
• You are studying outside Ontario, Alberta, or British Columbia. There is no province aid guide on this site for your province yet. Check your province's aid page directly — the Canada Student Loans page points you to your provincial or territorial student aid office — and apply through that office, not through OSAP, Alberta Student Aid, or StudentAid BC.

What this checklist does not state

This checklist states no tuition amount, no loan amount, and no grant amount: those figures vary by school, program, and province, and they change every year, so check your school and your province's aid page for the current numbers. It states no application deadline beyond the ones above, because deadlines vary by province and program year. It states no processing-time figure for OSAP or StudentAid BC, because neither page opened for this checklist publishes one; Alberta Student Aid states that most applications are processed within 30 days and manual reviews may take up to 45 days. Recheck your province's aid page on the day you apply: it governs over any summary, including this checklist.

Related guides

• How to Apply for OSAP in Ontario — Ontario's student aid program: the information module, the application steps, the MSFAA, and the Notice of Assessment.
• How to Apply for Alberta Student Aid — Alberta's student aid: the verified Alberta.ca Account, the single application for provincial and federal funding, and the award letter.
• How to Apply for StudentAid BC in British Columbia — British Columbia's student aid: the BC Services Card account, the SIN check, and the application steps.
• How to Start Getting Your Tuition Paid for in Canada — grants, bursaries, and other routes that cut what you need to borrow, including the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students.
• How to Start Getting Your Student Loans Forgiven or Reduced in Canada — the repayment routes after you finish: the Repayment Assistance Plan, the disability route, and forgiveness for working in a small or rural community.
• How to Start Studying Remotely in Canada — distance and open-admission options, transfer credit, and prior learning assessment, including Athabasca University and Thompson Rivers University Open Learning.

Sources

• Government of Ontario, OSAP: Ontario Student Assistance Program — the 2026–2027 online OSAP applications open for full-time and part-time students, and the first-application information module.
• Alberta Student Aid, How to Apply — the single application for Alberta and Canada loans and grants, the 60-day application advice, the verified Alberta.ca Account taking up to 10 business days by mail, the MSFAA and school enrolment confirmation, and the 30-day and 45-day processing figures.
• StudentAid BC, How to apply — the BC Services Card account, the Social Insurance Number check taking up to 72 hours, the 6-week latest application deadline, and the Notice of Assessment.
• Government of Canada, Canada Student Grants and Loans — grants not repaid, loans repaid when you finish your studies, and the provincial or territorial student aid office as the point of contact.
• Government of Canada, Repayment Assistance Plan — reduced or no payments by income, reapplying every 6 months, the government paying federal interest not covered, principal payments after 60 months of RAP or 10 years after finishing school, and the 15-year and 10-year repayment limits.
• Government of Canada, Social Insurance Number: Apply — the 9-digit number needed to work in Canada, anyone 12 or older applying for their own, parents or legal guardians applying for children under the age of majority, and the online, mail, and in-person routes.
• Athabasca University, Your education, your way — open admission for learners 16 and older to most undergraduate programs.
• Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning, Program Advising — individual course registration without program admission, and transfer credit and prior learning assessment terms.