Student Loans in Canada: Federal and Provincial Loans, Interest by Province and Repayment

A Canadian student loan is usually two loans issued together: a federal Canada Student Loan and a loan from your home province. You apply once, through your province’s student aid office, and the same assessment also decides what grants you get. After school, the two loans are repaid on one schedule in most provinces. What differs from province to province is mainly the provincial part: whether it charges interest, who services it, and what the province forgives.

This page explains how the pieces fit together, compares interest on the provincial portion in each province, and lists every guide in this section.

How federal and provincial loans fit together

One application, two governments. Your provincial student aid office (OSAP in Ontario, StudentAid BC, Student Aid Alberta and so on) assesses your costs and resources and awards a mix of Canada Student Grants, provincial grants, a Canada Student Loan and a provincial loan. Grants are assessed first and don’t need to be repaid; the federal grants are explained in the Canada Student Grants guide, and Ontario’s assessment, as one example, in the OSAP guide.

Integrated loans. In most provinces the federal and provincial loans are integrated: the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) administers both, you see one balance, and you make one monthly payment. Managing that account is covered in the NSLSC account guide. The exceptions:

• Quebec runs its own system, the Aide financière aux études. Quebec students don’t receive Canada Student Loans or grants, and they repay a Quebec loan to the bank that issued it. See Quebec student loans.
• Nova Scotia provincial loans are serviced by Resolve, and PEI provincial loans by Edulinx, while the NSLSC handles the federal part. See Nova Scotia and PEI.
• The Northwest Territories and Nunavut also have their own student aid programs instead of Canada Student Grants.

The federal part charges no interest. Canada Student Loans have charged 0% interest since April 1, 2023. Any interest you pay comes from the provincial part or from private borrowing such as a student line of credit.

Interest on the provincial portion, by province

Each province’s guide links the government page its row comes from. In Ontario, the payment is set from the interest rates on the first payment date; a later change in prime keeps the payment the same and changes how much of it goes to principal. Interest charged before a province went interest-free still has to be repaid.

From school to repayment

1. While you study full-time, government student loans need no payments, as long as your school confirms your enrolment each term or year.
2. After you leave school there is a 6-month non-repayment period before the first payment. Interest on an interest-bearing provincial portion runs during it in Ontario and Saskatchewan; Alberta’s grace period lasts 12 months.
3. The standard schedule spreads payments over about 9.5 years. Paying extra or in lump sums ends the loan sooner, and on an interest-bearing portion it also cuts the interest; how to pay off student loans covers the strategies, and the student loan repayment calculator runs the numbers.
4. If the payment is too high, the Repayment Assistance Plan bases it on family income, down to $0 below a threshold, and repayment ends within 15 years of leaving school as long as you stay eligible.
5. If payments stop, a loan with no payment for 270 days is in default and goes to the Canada Revenue Agency or the province for collection; the consequences and the way back are in what happens if you can’t pay your student loan.

Some debt can be cancelled outright: Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador forgive or convert provincial loans to grants for students who finish eligible programs, BC forgives its portion for some health and education occupations, and the federal government forgives part of the Canada Student Loan for family doctors, nurses, teachers and other listed occupations in rural communities. All of them are compared in student loan forgiveness in Canada.

Student loan guides

Repayment help and forgiveness

• Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): thresholds, the payment cap, Ontario’s provincial plan and how to apply.
• Student loan forgiveness in Canada: federal occupation-based forgiveness, provincial programs, disability and death.
• What happens if you can’t pay your student loan: the timeline to default, collection by the CRA, and student loans in bankruptcy.

Paying it back

• How to pay off student loans: extra payments, consolidating or refinancing, paying a 0% loan or investing, and the interest tax credit.
• Student loan repayment calculator: payoff time and interest for your balance and payment.
• NSLSC account guide: logging in, checking your balance, payments and tax slips.

Getting funding

• Canada Student Grants: the federal grants, their amounts and how they are assessed.
• RESP vs student loans: what saving ahead costs a family compared with borrowing.
• How to pay for college without loans: grants, scholarships, work and savings.

Ontario

• OSAP guide: the grant and loan mix, how need is assessed, applying and repaying.
• OSAP calculator: how your OSAP amount is worked out, and Ontario’s official estimator.

Other provinces

• Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

What school itself costs, province by province, is in how much university costs in Canada, and buying a home while repaying student debt is covered in buying a home with student debt.