About the non-repayment period
The 6 months after you leave full-time study is called your non-repayment period. During this period, the interest on your loan may accumulate, depending on your loan provider, but you are not required to make payments.
What to expect
Make sure your lenders have your current contact information. If your loan involves the National Student Loan Service Centre (NSLSC), which is used in all parts of Canada except Nunavut, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories, you will be emailed an invitation to log into your NSLSC secure account to find details on your repayment. This includes the amount you owe, when and how to make payments, and your rate of interest. If you don’t receive an email, contact them to ensure they have your latest email information. If you’re dealing with multiple lenders, it’s your responsibility to ensure you communicate and stay up to date with each one.
The non-repayment period is a good time to review your payment information and modify the terms if you need to. After repayment begins, you will also be able to contact your lender to discuss or modify your repayment terms.
You can still make payments during the non-repayment period, even though it is not required. This is a way to pay down your loan principal and reduce the amount of interest that you will be charged, if applicable. Contact your lender(s) to have a consolidation agreement sent to you and to arrange early payments.
About repayment
After your 6-month grace period ends, you will automatically enter repayment, and payments will be withdrawn from your bank account at the end of each month, unless you indicate otherwise.
The date you leave full-time study is the date you last attended school, not the date of your graduation ceremony. If you withdraw part-way through your study period, you will enter repayment 6 months from the date of your withdrawal.
If you were previously a full-time student and are now returning to part-time study, you will enter repayment 6 months after leaving full-time study. You may be eligible for part-time student loans, if you need further financial assistance.
Monthly repayments
To find out the amount of your monthly payments, check your Consolidation Agreement(s). You’ll receive one in the mail from each of your lenders about 5 months after the date you complete or leave full-time study. The Consolidation Agreement outlines your loan repayment details, including: your balance owing, expected monthly payments, the start date of repayment, the length of repayment, and interest rate options. You can also use the CanLearn Loan Repayment Estimator to find out how much your payments will be ahead of time.
Repayment interest information
Depending on your provincial or territorial loan provider, you may or may not be charged interest during repayment. Learn more on the National Student Loans Service Centre webpage or through your loan provider.
Repayment period
A Canada Student Loan is normally paid off over a repayment period of 9.5 years. If your monthly payments are too high to manage, the repayment period for your Canada Student Loan or BC Student Loan can potentially be increased up to 14.5 years. Contact the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) for more information.
If you’re able to afford increased monthly payments, paying off your loans as quickly as possible will decrease the overall amount of interest that you will pay, if applicable. You are also able to make lump sum payments at any time without penalty.
Repayment for graduate and unclassified students
If you’re returning to UBC for graduate studies, you must be paying full-time fees as a graduate student to qualify for student loans or payment-free and interest-free status.
Unclassified students can receive student loan funding or interest-free status for a maximum of 52 weeks if they are registered in 60 percent of a full-time course load and taking courses as prerequisites to enter into a loan-eligible program.
You can either apply for government student loans or interest-free status federally or through your home province.
Help with repayments
If you have trouble with repayment, browse available options on the National Student Loans Service Centre website.
Repaying US loans
Read the repayment information on the US Department of Education website for complete details on the repayment process for students with US loans.
Repayment for Parent PLUS and Graduate PLUS loans begins on the date the loan is fully paid out.
If you withdraw part way through your study period, your repayment start date will be based on the date of your withdrawal and not the original term end date.
When you enter repayment you’ll be required to complete exit counselling.
If you have questions
If you have questions, please contact your Enrolment Services Advisor directly.
For general questions, please call 604 822 9836 or submit a question through the online form.