Canada Student Financial Assistance Act (S.C. 1994, c. 28)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  appropriate authority

  appropriate authority, in respect of a province, means an appropriate authority designated for the province pursuant to subsection 3(1); (autorité compétente)

  designated educational institution

  designated educational institution means an institution of learning designated pursuant to subsection 3(1), and includes a specified educational institution within the meaning of the Canada Student Loans Act; (établissement agréé)

  lender

  lender means a financial institution within the meaning of the Bank Act or other corporation that is a party to an agreement with the Minister entered into under section 5; (prêteur)

  Minister

  Minister means such member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada as may be designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act; (ministre)

  prescribed

  prescribed, in the case of a form or the information to be given on a form, means prescribed by the Minister and, in any other case, means prescribed by the regulations; (Version anglaise seulement)

  qualifying student

  qualifying student means a person

  • (a) who is a Canadian citizen, a person registered as an Indian under the Indian Act, a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or a protected person within the meaning of subsection 95(2) of that Act,

  • (b) who is qualified for enrolment or is enrolled at a designated educational institution as a full-time student or part-time student for a period of studies at a post-secondary school level, and

  • (c) who intends to attend a designated educational institution as a full-time student or part-time student for a period of studies described in paragraph (b) if it is financially possible for that person to do so. (étudiant admissible)

• Marginal note:Other definitions

  (2) In this Act, the words and expressions borrower, consolidated student loan agreement, course, family income, family physician, financial assistance, full-time student, loan year, nurse, nurse practitioner, part-time student, period of studies, post-secondary school level, program of studies, severe permanent disability, student loan, student loan agreement and under-served rural or remote community have the meanings assigned by the regulations.

• Marginal note:Words and expressions in relation to previous loan years

  (3) Words and expressions used in this Act have, when used in respect of a loan year before the loan year in which this section comes into force, the meanings assigned to them by the Canada Student Loans Act.

• Marginal note:Electronic documents and communication

  (4) A document or other communication under this Act or the regulations may be in electronic form, and a reference in this Act or the regulations to a document includes a document in electronic form.

Appropriate Authorities

Marginal note:Designation of appropriate authorities

• 3 (1) For the purposes of this Act, the Minister may, by order, designate for a province

  • (a) an appropriate authority, which authority may designate as designated educational institutions any institutions of learning in Canada that offer courses at a post-secondary school level, or any class of such institutions; and

  • (b) an appropriate authority, which authority may designate as designated educational institutions any institutions of learning outside Canada that offer courses at a post-secondary school level, or any class of such institutions.

• Marginal note:Revocations and exclusions

  (2) An appropriate authority may revoke any designation made by it under subsection (1), and any designation made in respect of the province under the Canada Student Loans Act and, in the case of a designation of a class, may exclude any named institution from that designation.

Marginal note:Agreements

• 4 (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement with an appropriate authority, or with an appropriate authority and the government of the province for which the authority was designated, respecting the exercise or performance of any of the authority’s powers, duties or functions under this Act or the regulations.

• Marginal note:Directives

  (2) The Minister may give directives to any appropriate authority respecting the exercise or performance of any of its powers, duties or functions under this Act or the regulations, and such directives are binding on the appropriate authority.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (3) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply in respect of directives given under subsection (2).

Agreements with Lenders

Marginal note:Agreements

5 The Minister may, if the Minister considers it appropriate, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, enter into an agreement with any lender respecting the making of student loans or the provision of other forms of financial assistance to students by the lender, and such an agreement may, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, provide for

• (a) the payment by the Minister to the lender of all or a portion of

  • (i) amounts equivalent to interest on a student loan made by the lender in respect of the period before April 1, 2023 for which no interest is payable by the borrower under subsection 7(1), as it read from time to time before April 1, 2023,

  • (ii) amounts equivalent to interest on a student loan made by the lender in respect of any period for which no interest is payable by the borrower under regulations made under paragraph 15(1)(n), as that paragraph and those regulations read from time to time before April 1, 2023,

  • (iii) principal and interest on a student loan made by the lender to a borrower whose obligations in respect of the loan are terminated in the circumstances set out in section 10 or 11,

  • (iv) amounts in respect of a student loan made by the lender that are paid under regulations made under paragraph 15(1)(l),

  • (v) a risk premium for lending risks on a student loan made by the lender,

  • (vi) amounts necessary for the purchase of a student loan made by the lender that is payable and on which no payment has been made by the borrower in at least one year, and a percentage of amounts recovered by the Minister in respect of that loan,

  • (vii) adjusted amounts in respect of principal and interest on a student loan, where an inadvertent error concerning the rate of interest or the amount to be repaid is made by the lender in drawing up the consolidated student loan agreement or the student loan agreement,

  • (viii) amounts in respect of the loss suffered by the lender on a student loan made to a full-time student who, before the month following the month in which the borrower ceases to be a full-time student,

    • (A) makes an assignment under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act that is filed and not cancelled, is deemed under that Act, by reason of circumstances occurring before that following month, to have made an assignment, or is the subject of a bankruptcy order made under that Act,

    • (B) makes a proposal under Division I or II of Part III of that Act that is approved or deemed to be approved by a court under that Act,

    • (C) is granted a consolidation order under Part X of that Act, or

    • (D) is granted relief under a provincial law relating to the orderly payment of debts, and

  • (ix) any other amounts that the Minister considers appropriate in respect of a student loan made, or other financial assistance provided, by the lender;

• (b) audits and adjustments in respect of payments made to the lender by the Minister;

• (c) subject to the regulations, the circumstances in which the lender is, on application, required to provide financial assistance to a qualifying student in an amount not exceeding the maximum amount determined in accordance with section 12;

• (d) [Repealed, 2022, c. 19, s. 155]

• (e) the repayment of student loans by borrowers or classes of borrowers on an income-contingent basis;

• (f) the provisions to be included in an agreement between a borrower and the lender relating to a student loan, the making of amendments to the agreement, and the conditions and consequences of making an amendment;

• (g) the procedures to be followed by the lender in making, collecting or otherwise dealing with a student loan;

• (h) the making of reports to the Minister respecting student loans; and

• (i) the terms and conditions respecting the obligations of the Minister and the lender under the agreement.

Marginal note:Payments in accordance with agreement

6 Subject to this Act and the regulations, the Minister shall pay to a lender, in accordance with any agreement entered into under section 5, any amount that is payable by the Minister to the lender under the agreement.

Government Financing of Student Loans

Marginal note:Agreements with qualifying students

• 6.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister, or any person authorized by order of the Minister to act on the Minister’s behalf, may enter into an agreement with any qualifying student for the purpose of making a student loan.

• Marginal note:Financial terms and conditions

  (2) Any terms and conditions in the agreement that could have a financial impact on Her Majesty in right of Canada are subject to approval by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance.

Marginal note:Agreement with service provider

• 6.2 (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement with any corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province and carrying on business in Canada (a “service provider”), respecting the administration of student loans made, or other forms of financial assistance provided, by the Minister. An agreement may provide for, but is not limited to, the following matters:

  • (a) disbursing student loans or other forms of financial assistance on behalf of the Minister;

  • (b) audits and adjustments in respect of payments made by the Minister under the agreement;

  • (c) the manner of calculating the interest payable by the Minister to the service provider, including the amount on which interest is to be calculated and the rate of interest or the manner of determining the rate of interest;

  • (d) the procedures to be followed by the service provider in making, collecting or otherwise dealing with a student loan and other forms of financial assistance;

  • (e) the making of reports to the Minister respecting student loans and other forms of financial assistance;

  • (f) the terms and conditions respecting the obligations of the Minister and the service provider under the agreement; and

  • (g) the payment of compensation by the Minister to the service provider for the administration of student loans and other forms of financial assistance.

• Marginal note:Receipt and Deposit of Public Money Regulations, 1997

  (2) Despite section 3 of the Receipt and Deposit of Public Money Regulations, 1997, the portion of the following money that is public money and is collected or received electronically by a service provider that has entered into an agreement under subsection (1) shall be paid to the credit of the Receiver General by depositing it, within two business days after the day of collection or receipt, in an account established under subsection 17(2) of the Financial Administration Act:

  • (a) money collected or received as repayment of financial assistance, as repayment of a guaranteed student loan as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Student Loans Act or as payment of interest owing on that assistance or loan; and

  • (b) interest received by the service provider on the money referred to in paragraph (a).

• Meaning of business day

  (3) In this section, business day means a day other than a Saturday or a holiday.

Marginal note:Agreement with financial institutions

6.3 Despite subsection 41(1) of the Financial Administration Act, the Minister may enter into an agreement with any financial institution, as defined in the regulations, with respect to the disbursement of student loans.

Marginal note:Suspension or denial of financial assistance

6.4 The Minister may suspend or deny the provision of financial assistance to all those who are qualifying students in relation to a designated educational institution if the Minister is satisfied that there are compelling reasons to believe that the provision of the financial assistance would

• (a) facilitate the commission by the designated educational institution of an offence under this Act or any other Act of Parliament; or

• (b) expose the qualifying students or Her Majesty in right of Canada to significant financial risk.

Interest and Periods of Deferral

Marginal note:No accrual of interest

• 7 (1) Beginning on April 1, 2023, no interest is payable by a borrower on a student loan.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (1.1) For greater certainty, nothing in this section relieves a borrower from liability for interest that accrued before April 1, 2023 on a student loan.

• Marginal note:No fees

  (2) No fee of any kind may be charged to a borrower on a student loan in respect of any period of studies during which the borrower is a full-time or part-time student or in respect of any subsequent period ending on

  • (a) in the case of a student loan that is made to a full-time student, the last day of the sixth month after the month in which the borrower ceases to be a full-time student; and

  • (b) in the case of a student loan that is made to a part-time student, the last day of the sixth month after the month in which the borrower ceases to be a student, whether a part-time or full-time student.