Lifetime Limits on Student Financial Assistance
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.