Student Loans and Bursaries (Government Financial Assistance)
Need financial help to undertake or continue your studies? If you’re a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, refugee or protected person, you can benefit from the Government of Quebec’s Loans and Bursaries Program. Here’s some information on this financial assistance program.
Loans and Bursaries Program
Quebec’s ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur (the education and higher learning ministry)’s Loans and Bursaries Program is administered by Student Financial Assistance (SFA, or AFÉ in French). It is the main form of financial assistance for many students who reside in Quebec. Office of Student Life staff at ÉTS are specially trained to work with you and provide information and advice about this financial assistance program.
Services
- Help with applying for financial assistance for the first time
- Reviewing forms
- Issuing a Guarantee Certificate
- Confirmation of academic information and change of institution
- Advice if your situation changes
- Help with understanding your file and your assessment
- Advice for problems (ex. suspended assistance, refusal, assistance payment is too large, etc.)
- Assistance with exemption requests
What You Need to Know:
What codes do I need to use when applying for the financial assistance program to study at ÉTS?
The Ministry’s permanent code appears on your high school report card or college transcript. Careful – it’s not the same as ÉTS’s code.
- Institution code: 978010
- Program code:
- Non-program student or preparatory year student: 09999
- Bachelor’s: 40050
- Certificate, master’s, introductory, doctorate: 40000
What Should I do if I never have studied in Québec?
- You must complete a financial assistance application using a paper form. You can get the form on the AFE Website or at our offices. It’s best to have your financial assistance application checked by staff at ÉTS Office of Student Life before sending it to avoid delays due to errors or missing documents.
What is a Guarantee Certificate?
- A Guarantee Certificate is how you start the process with your financial institution to have the amounts that are allocated to you through AFE deposited into your account.
- Simply present it, before its expiration date, at one of the following financial institutions:
- A Desjardins credit union
- A Bank of Montreal branch
- A Laurentian Bank branch
- A National Bank of Canada branch
- A Royal Bank of Canada branch
- The financial assistance that you receive will be deposited directly into your bank account.
What are your obligations?
- You must be registered full time.
- For undergraduate students, this status means that you are registered for a minimum of 12 credits or a co-op work term.
- For graduate students, this status means you are registered for a minimum of 9 credits or a co-op work term as part of your master’s degree.
- Contact Office of Student Life about exceptional situations.
- Your financial assistance application must be renewed each school year.
- You must provide one confirmation of your financial resources in January.
- You must keep your income updated at all times.
- You must declare any change in situation (such as a co-op term, income, marriage, birth, etc.)
Deemed Full-Time status
You are deemed to be a full-time student for the financial assistance program by registering for a minimum of six credit
Why can’t I receive financial assistance during my co-op work term?
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Work terms in a co-op program do not make you eligible for financial assistance. However, you do not have to repay loans or interests during your co-op work term.
I will soon have 90 credits. How does that influence my financial assistance?
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There is no specific bursary for students with 90 credits. It’s a loans and bursaries program.
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For AFE, obtaining 90 credits means the student’s status can be changed to a status without parental contribution. This change could affect the amount of financial assistance granted in the form of loans and bursaries.
Why does the financial assistance I receive only appear in my account as a loan?
- Your financial assistance will be deposited to your account on the first of each month by following instructions provided by the AFE.
- For the entire school year, all of your financial assistance will be paid to you in the form of a loan by your financial institution. At the end of the school year, after the last payment and once your income is verified with Revenu Québec, the AFE will repay the amount of your assistance that corresponds to your bursary. This is known as loan-tu-bursary conversion.
Where can I find my tax slips?
- You will receive a tax slip if you are in one of the following situations:
- You had a loan-to-bursary conversion during the fiscal year.
- You were awarded a loan remission amount.
- You repaid a bursary overpayment amount.
- You repaid interest on your student loan to the AFE collection department.
- You have a major functional disability and receive all your assistance as a bursary.
- During the month of February, the tax slips you need for your tax returns are added to your Online File in the Tax Slips tab on the AFE site and, if you have so requested, are mailed to the physical address shown in your file.
- If no tax documents are shown in your Online File in the Tax Slips tab by March 1, none will be issued to you by AFE for the year in question.
Why is my parents’ income counted in assessing my financial assistance?
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You are considered to have parental contribution if you do not meet any self-supporting criteria.
How much financial assistance will I receive?
- The Assessment Simulator lets you evaluate the amounts you could receive before you apply.
- If you are unsure, contact Office of Student Life for an evaluation.
How do I repay my student debt?
- The student is responsible for interest on the loan beginning on the month after his or her full-time studies end.
- Repayment begins 6 months after your full-time studies end.
- Repayment and interest stop when you return to your studies full time.
- You can postpone repayment if you qualify for the deferred payment plan.
Loan Remission Program
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The purpose of the Loan Remission Program is to forgive 15% of the student loan debt of any person who completed his or her studies within the prescribed period and who has received a bursary under the Loans and Bursaries Program for every year of study.
- If you are studying at an institution that is a partner of ÉTS and you pay the tuition fees at ÉTS, it is as if you were studying at ÉTS. You will therefore continue to receive loans and bursaries if you meet the other eligibility criteria.
- If you are studying at an institution that is not a partner of ÉTS and you pay your tuition to that institution, you are not considered a student at ÉTS. Therefore, you will not receive financial aid from the loans and bursaries program. However, you can check with the AFE (Student Financial Assistance) to see if you are eligible for the program for studies outside Quebec.
- If the sessions at the institution where you are studying are different from those in Quebec, confirmations of academic information will be sent to AFE based on your ETS record.