Apprentice Loans Regulations (SOR/2014-255)

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions — Act and Regulations

• 1 (1) The following definitions apply in the Act and in these Regulations.

  acknowledgment of liability

  acknowledgment of liability means

  • (a) a written promise to pay the money owing, signed by the borrower or his or her agent or other representative;

  • (b) a written acknowledgement of the money owing, signed by the borrower or his or her agent or other representative, whether or not a promise to pay can be implied from it and whether or not it contains a refusal to pay;

  • (c) a part payment by the borrower or his or her agent or other representative of any money owing; or

  • (d) an acknowledgment of the money owing made by the borrower, his or her agent or other representative or the trustee or administrator in the course of proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act or any other legislation dealing with the payment of debts. (reconnaissance de responsabilité)

  apprentice

  apprentice means

  • (a) other than in section 5, a person who

    • (i) 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 as described in subsection 95(2) of that Act,

    • (ii) is not a high school student, and

    • (iii) is registered with a province as an apprentice in an eligible trade; and

  • (b) in section 5, a person who is described in subparagraphs (a)(i) and (ii) and who is enrolled in a program of study that is mandatory in order to enable the person to register as an apprentice with a province. (apprenti)

  apprentice loan

  apprentice loan means a debt obligation incurred by an eligible apprentice on entering into an apprentice loan agreement that is owed to Her Majesty in right of Canada, as represented by the Minister. (prêt aux apprentis)

  borrower

  borrower means a person to whom an apprentice loan is made under the Act. (emprunteur)

  eligible apprentice

  eligible apprentice means an apprentice who is enrolled at a technical training provider for technical training in an eligible trade and whose primary occupation during the technical training period is to participate in that technical training. (apprenti admissible)

  severe permanent disability

  severe permanent disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — that prevents a person from performing the daily activities necessary to participate in the labour force in a manner that is substantially gainful, as defined in section 68.1 of the Canada Pension Plan Regulations, and is expected to remain with the person for their expected life. (invalidité grave et permanente)

  technical training

  technical training means formal instruction or training that is offered by a technical training provider and that is determined by a province to be an essential element of an apprenticeship program in that province and required for the practice of an eligible trade. (formation technique)

  technical training period

  technical training period means a continuous period of technical training that begins on the first day of the month in which technical training begins and ends on the last day of the month in which the training ends. (période de formation technique)

• Marginal note:Definitions — Regulations

  (2) The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

  Act

  Act means the Apprentice Loans Act. (Loi)

  apprentice loan agreement

  apprentice loan agreement means an agreement entered into between an eligible apprentice and the Minister under section 4 of the Act that is in the form determined by the Minister and includes the social insurance number of the apprentice. (contrat de prêt aux apprentis)

  apprenticeship program

  apprenticeship program means a program of practical experience, technical training and certification examination that must be undertaken — as determined by the province — by an apprentice in an eligible trade. (programme d’apprentissage)

  common-law partner

  common-law partner, in respect of a borrower, means a person who is cohabiting with the borrower in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year. (conjoint de fait)

  confirmation of continued apprenticeship

  confirmation of continued apprenticeship means proof that a borrower is still registered with a province as an apprentice in an eligible trade. (confirmation d’apprentissage continu)

  confirmation of enrolment

  confirmation of enrolment means proof that an apprentice is enrolled in technical training with a technical training provider. (confirmation d’inscription)

  family income

  family income means the aggregate income — including income from employment, social programs, investments and monetary gifts — of the borrower and their spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be. (revenu familial)

  financial assistance

  financial assistance means any form of financial aid provided under the Act, including apprentice loans. (aide financière)

  fiscal year

  fiscal year means the one-year period that begins on April 1 in any year. (exercice)

  guaranteed student loan

  guaranteed student loan has the same meaning as in subsection 2(2) of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations. (prêt garanti)

  interest suspension period

  interest suspension period means the period set out in section 8.2 of the Act. (période de suspension des intérêts)

  permanent disability

  permanent disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — that restricts the ability of a person to perform the daily activities necessary to participate in an apprenticeship program or in the labour force and that is expected to remain with the person for the person’s expected life. (invalidité permanente)

  persistent or prolonged disability

  persistent or prolonged disability means any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment — or a functional limitation — that restricts the ability of a person to perform the daily activities necessary to participate in an apprenticeship program or in the labour force and has lasted, or is expected to last, for a period of at least 12 months but is not expected to remain with the person for the person’s expected life. (invalidité persistante ou prolongée)

  provincial loan

  provincial loan has the same meaning as in subsection 2(2) of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations. (prêt provincial)

  student loan

  student loan has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations. (prêt d’études)

• Marginal note:Schedule 1 — Eligible trades

  (3) For the purposes of subsection 2(1) of the Act, eligible trades are those that are listed in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

Obtaining an Apprentice Loan

Marginal note:Conditions

2 Subject to section 6, the Minister may make an apprentice loan to an eligible apprentice if the following conditions are met:

• (a) the apprentice has entered into an apprentice loan agreement for a technical training period on or before the last day of technical training;

• (b) confirmation of enrolment is submitted to the Minister;

• (c) in the event that interest started accruing prior to the first day of the current technical training period, the apprentice pays to the Minister the unpaid interest accrued under their apprentice loan agreement to the day before the first day of that technical training period; and

• (d) in the event that interest started accruing prior to the day on which the apprentice enters into an apprentice loan agreement for the current technical training period that began on the day on which interest started accruing, the apprentice

  • (i) pays to the Minister the unpaid interest accrued under their apprentice loan agreement to the day before the day on which the apprentice enters into the current apprentice loan agreement, or

  • (ii) directs the addition of the interest referred to in subparagraph (i) to the outstanding principal.

Interest-Free Period

Marginal note:No interest accrues

3 Subject to section 6, no interest accrues under a borrower’s apprentice loan in respect of the following periods:

• (a) in the event that no interest has accrued when a technical training period begins for which confirmation of enrolment is submitted to the Minister, the period that begins on the first day of the technical training period and ends on the day that is 18 months after the last day of that technical training period;

• (b) [Repealed, SOR/2019-215, s. 3]

• (c) in the event that interest started accruing prior to the first day of a technical training period for which confirmation of enrolment is submitted to the Minister, the period that began on the day that the technical training period begins and ends on the day that is 18 months after the last day of that technical training period, in the case where the apprentice pays to the Minister the unpaid interest accrued to the day before the first day of that technical training period;

• (d) in the event that interest started accruing prior to the day on which confirmation of enrolment is submitted to the Minister for a technical training period that began prior to the day on which interest started accruing, the period that begins on the day on which confirmation of enrolment is submitted and ends on the day that is 18 months after the last day of that technical training period in the case where the apprentice

  • (i) pays to the Minister the unpaid interest accrued under their apprentice loan agreement to the day before the day on which confirmation of enrolment is submitted to the Minister, or

  • (ii) directs the addition of the interest referred to in subparagraph (i) to the outstanding principal;

• (e) in the event that no interest has accrued when confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted to the Minister, the period that begins on the day that confirmation of continued apprenticeship was submitted and ends on the day that is 18 months after the last day of the month in which the confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted; and

• (f) in the event that interest started accruing prior to the day on which confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted to the Minister, the period that begins on the day on which the confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted and ends on the day that is 18 months after the last day of the month in which the confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted, in the case where the apprentice

  • (i) pays to the Minister the unpaid interest accrued under their apprentice loan agreement to the day before the day on which confirmation of continued apprenticeship is submitted, or

  • (ii) directs the addition of the interest referred to in subparagraph (i) to the outstanding principal.

Payment of Principal and Interest

Marginal note:Payment begins

4 The borrower must begin to repay the principal amount of any apprentice loan made to them, and interest, on the last day of the month in which interest started accruing or would have started accruing but for the interest suspension period.

Special Payments

Marginal note:Amount determined by Minister

• 5 (1) For the purposes of section 7 of the Act, the special payment amount for a province as determined by the Minister after consultation with the Chief Statistician of Canada is the amount for the fiscal year that is obtained by multiplying the total costs for the fiscal year for provinces where apprentices registered with those provinces are able to enter into apprentice loan agreements for the fiscal year, by the ratio of the estimated number of persons in the province in question who are at least 16 years of age but less than 65, to the estimated number of persons of those ages in provinces where apprentices registered with those provinces are able to enter into apprentice loan agreements.

• Marginal note:Total costs

  (2) In this section, total costs for a fiscal year means the amount determined by the formula

  A + B - C

  where

  A

  is the estimated aggregate of all amounts paid by the Minister in that fiscal year to service providers under the Act and to collection agencies in respect of apprentice loans;

  B

  is the estimated aggregate of

  • (a) the amount of interest calculated at the rate of interest referred to in subsection (3) in that fiscal year in respect of outstanding apprentice loans referred to in the description of A made under an apprentice loan agreement,

  • (b) the amount by which the outstanding principal in respect of all apprentice loans referred to in paragraph (a) has been reduced in that fiscal year in accordance with these Regulations,

  • (c) the amount of the outstanding principal and interest in respect of all apprentice loans referred to in paragraph (a) for which the borrower’s obligations have terminated in that fiscal year as a result of the death or severe permanent disability of the borrower, and

  • (d) the amount of the outstanding principal and interest in respect of all apprentice loans referred to in paragraph (a) for which the Minister has commenced collection action in that fiscal year, minus the amount of the outstanding principal and interest in respect of apprentice loans referred to in that paragraph for which the Minister has ended collection action in that fiscal year due to the occurrence of an event described in section 7 that resulted in the removal of restrictions to financial assistance; and

  C

  is the estimated aggregate of

  • (a) the amount of interest received by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada in that fiscal year in respect of apprentice loans, and

  • (b) any amounts received by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada in that fiscal year pursuant to collection action taken by the Minister in respect of apprentice loans.

• Marginal note:Rate of interest

  (3) The rate of interest for the purposes of paragraph (a) of the description of B in subsection (2) is the average percentage yield, during the fiscal year in question, of Benchmark Bonds issued by the Government of Canada maturing in 10 years, as published by the Bank of Canada.