Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations (SOR/95-329)

Removal of Restrictions

• 16 (1) Subject to subsection (5), a borrower who has been subject to a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2), (3) or (4) due to the occurrence of an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(a), (b) or (i) is entitled to a new student loan, a new certificate of eligibility, another interest-free period, further repayment assistance under section 19 or 20 or the loan forgiveness referred to in subsection 9.2(1) of the Act if

  • (a) in the case of a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2), an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(j) has not occurred in respect of the borrower’s student loans or guaranteed student loans;

  • (b) an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(h) or (k) has not occurred in respect of the borrower’s student loans or guaranteed student loans;

  • (c) the borrower has, in respect of risk-shared loan agreements and guaranteed student loan agreements for which a judgment has not been obtained and that are held by a lender, paid the interest accrued to a day and fulfilled the terms of a repayment arrangement entered into with that lender that is no more onerous to the borrower than six consecutive payments subsequent to that day that are made in accordance with those agreements; and

  • (d) the borrower has, in respect of direct loan agreements, risk-shared loan agreements and guaranteed student loan agreements held by the Minister, for which a judgment has not been obtained, fulfilled the terms of a repayment arrangement entered into with the Minister that is no more onerous to the borrower than six consecutive payments subsequent to a day that are made in accordance with those agreements, and

    • (i) has paid the interest accrued to that day, or

    • (ii) has directed, for the first time under this paragraph, paragraph 10(1)(d) of the Canada Student Loans Regulations or paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Apprentice Loans Regulations, the addition of the unpaid accrued interest to that day to the outstanding principal.

• (2) Subject to subsection (5), where a borrower is subject to a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2) due to the occurrence of an event referred to in any of paragraphs 15(1)(c) to (g), the borrower has the rights referred to in subsection (1) if

  • (a) an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(h), (j) or (k) has not occurred in respect of the borrower’s student loans or guaranteed student loans;

  • (b) the borrower has complied with paragraph (1)(c) or (d), as the case may be, in the case where the borrower’s consumer proposal has been annulled or deemed annulled or the borrower is no longer subject to a provincial law relating to the orderly payment of debts for a reason other than full compliance with that law, and an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(c), (d) or (f) has not occurred;

  • (c) the borrower has been released of the borrower’s student loans and guaranteed student loans, in any case other than a case described in paragraph (b); or

  • (d) if the borrower is released from the borrower’s student loans and guaranteed student loans by reason that an absolute order of discharge is granted under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, three years have passed since the date of the order.

• (3) Subject to subsection (5), where a borrower is subject to a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2) or (4) due to the occurrence of the event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(h), the borrower shall have the rights referred to in subsection (1) if

  • (a) in the case of a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2), an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(j) has not occurred in respect of the borrower’s student loans or guaranteed student loans; and

  • (a.1) an event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(k) has not occurred in respect of the borrower’s student loans or guaranteed student loans;

  • (b) the borrower has been released from that borrower’s student loans and guaranteed student loans that were outstanding on the day of the finding of guilt;

  • (c) where the release referred to in paragraph (b) occurs by operation of an order of absolute discharge granted under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, three years have passed since the date of that order; and

  • (d) either five years have passed since the day of the finding of guilt or a pardon has been granted in respect of that finding.

• (4) Where a borrower, who has been the subject of a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2), (3) or (4), has received a risk-shared loan as a minor and has refused to ratify that loan and the Minister has made a payment to the lender pursuant to subparagraph 5(a)(ix) of the Act in respect of that loan, the borrower shall have the rights referred to in subsection (1) if

  • (a) the borrower ratifies that loan; and

  • (b) the requirements of subsection (1), (2) or (3) are met, as is applicable in the circumstances.

• (4.1) Where a borrower, who has been the subject of a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2), (3) or (4), has received a direct loan as a minor and has refused to ratify that loan, the borrower shall have the rights referred to in subsection (1) if

  • (a) the borrower ratifies that loan; and

  • (b) the requirements of subsection (1), (2) or (3) are met, as is applicable in the circumstances.

• (4.2) Subject to subsection (5), where a borrower is subject to a measure taken in accordance with subsection 15(2) or (4) due to the occurrence of the event referred to in paragraph 15(1)(k), the borrower has the rights referred to in subsection (1) if the borrower has paid in full the outstanding balance of the student loans or guaranteed student loans.

• (5) Where a judgment has been obtained against a borrower, that borrower shall not be entitled to the rights referred to in subsection (1) unless, in addition to meeting the requirements of subsection (1), (2) or (3), the borrower has been released from that judgment.

17 [Renumbered, SOR/2020-182, s. 6]

PART IV.1Maximum Amount of Outstanding Student Loans

• 18 (1) For the purposes of section 13 of the Act, the outstanding aggregate amount of student loans may not exceed 34 billion dollars.

• (2) The student loans that will be taken into consideration for the purposes of determining this amount are

  • (a) direct loans; and

  • (b) risk-shared loans that have been purchased by the Minister under an agreement made pursuant to the Act.

PART VRepayment Assistance Plan

First Stage

• 19 (1) Subject to section 15 of these Regulations, section 9 of the Canada Student Loans Regulations and section 6 of the Apprentice Loans Regulations, the Minister may, on application in the prescribed form containing the prescribed information, provide the first stage of a repayment assistance plan to a borrower for a period of six months if

  • (a) the borrower resides in Canada;

  • (b) [Repealed, SOR/2012-68, s. 6]

  • (c) all of the risk-shared loan agreements and guaranteed student loan agreements are held by a lender, or, in the case where an event referred to in any of paragraphs 15(1)(c) to (g) or paragraphs 9(1)(c) to (g) of the Canada Student Loans Regulations has occurred, by the Minister or a lender;

  • (d) no more than 120 months have elapsed

    • (i) in respect of student loans or guaranteed student loans made to the borrower as a full-time student, since the later of the day on which the borrower most recently ceased to be a full-time student under section 8 or, in the case of a borrower to whom only guaranteed student loans have been made, section 4.1 of the Canada Student Loans Regulations, and the day on which the restriction was removed under paragraph 16(1)(d), and

    • (ii) in respect of student loans made to the borrower as a part-time student, since the later of the day on which the borrower most recently ceased to be a full-time student under section 8 or a part-time student under section 12.3, as the case may be, and the day on which the restriction was removed under paragraph 16(1)(d); and

  • (e) the borrower’s monthly affordable payment calculated under subsection (2) is less than their monthly required payment calculated under subsection (3).

• (2) The monthly affordable payment is equal to

  • (a) $0, if the borrower’s monthly family income is no more than the minimum monthly income threshold for their family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1; or

  • (b) the borrower’s monthly family income multiplied by the lesser of the amounts determined by the following formulae:

    0.1A

    1.5[((X – Y)) ÷ 100Z+0.01]A

    where

    A

    is, in relation to student loans, guaranteed student loans, provincial loans and apprentice loans, the ratio of the borrower’s outstanding principal for which instalments are due to the sum of that amount and the outstanding principal for which instalments are due for any loan of the same type to a spouse or common-law partner of the borrower,

    X

    is the borrower’s monthly family income,

    Y

    is the monthly income threshold for the borrower’s family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1,

    Z

    is the monthly increment for the borrower’s family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1.

• (3) The monthly required payment is equal to

  • (a) the outstanding principal of the student loans, guaranteed student loans and provincial loans made to the borrower as a full-time student, amortized over a period of the greater of

    • (i) six months, and

    • (ii) 120 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph (1)(d)(i) plus the number of months since that day during which the borrower benefited from any special interest-free periods under section 19 or 20 or section 17 or 18 of the Canada Student Loans Regulations, as they read immediately before the coming into force of this section, or repayment assistance under this section;

  • (b) the outstanding principal of the student loans made to the borrower as a part-time student, amortized over a period of the greater of

    • (i) six months, and

    • (ii) 120 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph (1)(d)(ii), plus the number of months since that day during which the borrower benefited from any special interest-free periods under section 19 or 20 as they read immediately before the coming into force of this section, or repayment assistance under this section; and

  • (c) the monthly required payment calculated under paragraph 10(3)(a) or 12(3)(a), as the case may be, of the Apprentice Loans Regulations.

• (4) A borrower shall receive no more than 60 months, in the aggregate, of special interest-free periods granted under section 19 or 20 or section 17 or 18 of the Canada Student Loans Regulations, as they read immediately before the coming into force of this section, and repayment assistance under this section

  • (a) in respect of any student loan or guaranteed student loan made to the borrower as a full-time student, since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph (1)(d)(i); and

  • (b) in respect of any student loan made to the borrower as a part-time student, the applicable day referred to in subparagraph (1)(d)(ii).

• (5) The monthly affordable payment set out in a repayment assistance plan of a borrower who was receiving repayment assistance under this section on March 31, 2020 is, for the period described in subsection (6), deemed to be $0 if

  • (a) the borrower’s monthly affordable payment calculated under subsection (2) was greater than $0; and

  • (b) the borrower was not in arrears of any payments under the plan on March 31, 2020.

• (6) The period is equal to the number of months remaining on the borrower’s repayment assistance plan as of March 31, 2020 and it begins on October 1, 2020.

• 19.1 (1) A borrower shall, no later than the day that is 30 days after a repayment assistance period ends, pay to the lender or the Minister, as the case may be, the federal portion of the monthly affordable payments calculated under subsection 19(2) in respect of that period.

• (2) The amount of interest payable by the borrower for a month during a repayment assistance period on the outstanding principal shall be reduced by the lender or the Minister, as the case may be, by the federal portion of the difference between the monthly required payment calculated under subsection 19(3) and the monthly affordable payment calculated under subsection 19(2). That reduction shall only be made in relation to the months for which the borrower complies with subsection (1).

• (3) If the reduction referred to in subsection (2) is made by the lender, the Minister, on being notified of the reduction by the lender in the prescribed form, shall pay to the lender the amount of the reduction.

• (4) In this section, federal portion means the ratio of outstanding principal in relation to student loans and guaranteed student loans to the outstanding principal in relation to those loans and provincial loans.

• (5) Payments made under this section shall be attributed in proportion to the outstanding principal of each student loan, guaranteed student loan and apprentice loan for which instalments are due.

Second Stage

• 20 (1) Subject to section 15 of these Regulations, section 9 of the Canada Student Loans Regulations and section 6 of the Apprentice Loans Regulations, the Minister may, on application in the prescribed form containing the prescribed information, provide the second stage of a repayment assistance plan to a borrower for a period of six months if

  • (a) the borrower meets the conditions set out in paragraphs 19(1)(a) and (c);

  • (b) the borrower

    • (i) has either a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability, or

    • (ii) has received 60 months, in the aggregate, of the periods referred to in subsection 19(4) or at least 120 months has elapsed,

      • (A) in respect of any student loan or guaranteed student loan made to the borrower as a full-time student, since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(i), and

      • (B) in respect of any student loan made to the borrower as a part-time student, since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(ii); and

  • (c) the borrower’s monthly affordable payment calculated under subsection (2) is less than their monthly required payment calculated under subsection (3).

• (2) The monthly affordable payment is equal to

  • (a) in the case of a borrower who has either a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability

    • (i) $0, if the borrower’s monthly family income, less their monthly disability-related expenses not covered by their public health care or private insurance, is no more than the monthly income threshold for their family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1; and

    • (ii) the borrower’s monthly family income multiplied by the lesser of the amounts determined by the following formulae:

      0.1A

      1.5[((W – Y)) ÷ 100Z+0.01]A

      where

      A

      is, in relation to apprentice loans as well as student loans, guaranteed student loans, provincial loans and apprentice loans, the ratio of the borrower’s outstanding principal for which instalments are due to the sum of that amount and the outstanding principal for which instalments are due for any loan of the same type to a spouse or common-law partner of the borrower,

      W

      is the borrower’s monthly family income less their monthly disability-related expenses not covered by their public health care or private insurance,

      Y

      is the monthly income threshold for the borrower’s family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1;

      Z

      is the monthly increment for the borrower’s family size determined in accordance with Schedule 1;

  • (b) in any other case, the amount referred to in subsection 19(2).

• (3) The monthly required payment is equal to

  • (a) the outstanding principal of the student loans, guaranteed student loans and provincial loans made to the borrower as a full-time student, amortized over a period of the greater of six months and

    • (i) in the case of a borrower who has either a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability, 120 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(i), and

    • (ii) in any other case, 180 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(i);

  • (b) the outstanding principal of the student loans made to the borrower as a part-time student amortized over a period of the greater of six months and

    • (i) in the case of a borrower who has either a permanent disability or a persistent or prolonged disability, 120 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(ii), and

    • (ii) in any other case, 180 months minus the number of months that have elapsed since the applicable day referred to in subparagraph 19(1)(d)(ii); and

  • (c) the monthly required payment calculated under paragraph 10(3)(a) or 12(3)(a), as the case may be, of the Apprentice Loans Regulations.