Newfoundland and Labrador Student Loans: StudentAidNL, 0% Interest and Debt Reduction

Newfoundland and Labrador student loans don’t charge interest. The province eliminated interest on provincial student loans in July 2009, and the federal Canada Student Loan part has charged 0% since April 1, 2023, so both parts of a StudentAidNL loan are interest-free. On top of that, the province’s Debt Reduction Grant can convert up to the whole provincial loan into a grant for students who finish an eligible program.

StudentAidNL administers federal and provincial aid with one application: Canada and NL student loans, Canada Student Grants and NL Student Grants. This page covers what is particular to Newfoundland and Labrador; how all provinces compare is on the student loans hub.

Interest and repayment

(Sources: StudentAidNL, repayment process; Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Focusing Energy progress report.)

Repayment of a full-time loan begins six months after your full-time studies end. You don’t make payments while you’re a full-time student, but your school must confirm your enrolment with the NSLSC, or the loan goes into repayment automatically. Near the end of the six months, a notice says repayment is about to begin; it is up to you to contact the NSLSC to set up the schedule, and if you don’t, it withdraws the payments from your bank account automatically. Someone with both a full-time and a part-time loan sets up two payment schedules. The NSLSC account guide covers signing in and changing payments.

With no interest on either part, each payment goes entirely to principal, and extra payments only end the loan sooner; the student loan repayment calculator shows the payoff time for a given payment.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Debt Reduction Grant

StudentAidNL may convert up to the full provincial student loan into a non-repayable grant for students who graduate from eligible programs. To qualify you must:

• graduate from a program of study in Newfoundland and Labrador at least 80 weeks long (60 weeks for students who started an eligible program on or after August 1, 2025);
• borrow more than $165 a week in each period of study;
• pass 80% of a full course load in each period of study; and
• receive financial assistance for at least half of the program’s required length.

The grant depends on how much of each period of study you complete: finishing 100% of a full course load can bring a grant equal to 100% of that period’s provincial loan, 80% brings 50%, and less than 80% brings nothing. Students with disabilities and some single parents can qualify with a lighter course load, if they complete all the courses they enrolled in.

There is no application, but you must tell StudentAidNL you graduated. It doesn’t know when students graduate, so the responsibility is yours: send proof of graduation within two years of graduating, and graduate within 10 years of starting the program, or you lose eligibility. Once the grant is assessed, StudentAidNL has the NSLSC reduce your provincial balance; if you have already repaid some of the loan, the difference is paid to you by direct deposit.

Separately, StudentAidNL forgives the outstanding provincial loan of students who studied Early Childhood Education and meet that program’s requirements, also by converting it into a grant. (Source: StudentAidNL, NL debt relief.)

Federal forgiveness for family doctors, nurses, teachers and other occupations in rural communities applies to the Canada Student Loan part; it and other provinces’ programs are compared in student loan forgiveness in Canada.

If you can’t make the payments

StudentAidNL points borrowers to the federal options, which cover the integrated loan: the Repayment Assistance Plan, which can reduce the payment to $0 and is renewed every six months, its version for borrowers with disabilities, and revision of terms, which lengthens or shortens the repayment period. What happens when a loan goes unpaid is in what happens if you can’t pay your student loan.

Grants and tuition

The federal grants assessed through the StudentAidNL application are explained in the Canada Student Grants guide, and NL’s grants are compared with other provinces’ in the provincial student grants guide. Tuition at Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic compared with other provinces is in how much university costs in Canada.