Lifetime Limits on Student Financial Assistance
Loans Limits
With the help of a Canada Student Loan, Sara graduated with a Master's in Business Administration in the late 1990s and started her own company. But a change of heart took her back to university to pursue a Master's in Health Sciences. While Canada Student Loans helped again, she reached her 340-week lifetime limit of financial assistance midway through her third year. Since she was still in school full time, she was not required to make payments, but interest began to accumulate. Sara finished her studies and began to repay her loans six months after graduation.There are lifetime limits on the amount of student financial assistance you can receive. Student financial assistance includes both loans and interest-free periods for your loans. Once a lifetime limit has been reached, interest starts to accumulate on your loan. You begin to pay back your student loan six months after you graduate or leave your studies.
Lifetime limits for Canada Student Loans vary:
- full-time students who received loans on or after August 1, 1995 are eligible to receive student financial assistance for a maximum of 340 weeks
- full-time students enrolled in doctoral studies are eligible to receive student financial assistance for a maximum of 400 weeks
- students with a permanent disability and those who received Canada Student Loans before August 1, 1995 are eligible to receive student financial assistance for a maximum of 520 weeks.
