Undergraduate Students
Student Lines of Credit
Student Lines of Credit or Private Loans may be a consideration to help you fund your education. The merits of this type of loan should be carefully considered and all of your options examined before you make a decision. We encourage you to review Education Funding resources through the Government of Canada as a planning step.
The main difference between a student line of credit and government student financial assistance is in how the interest accumulates and how the loans are repaid. If you qualify for a Student Line of Credit, you will usually be responsible for all the interest that accrues as soon as you take funds from your line of credit. If you do not take any funds from your line of credit, there will be no interest. In addition, you will usually have to make monthly interest payments on the amount you've borrowed while you are in school.
In contrast, if you qualify for Canadian and/or Provincial student loans you will not accrue interest or make any monthly payments, provided you are enrolled as a full-time student and you take the appropriate steps to update your enrollment information. Another key difference is that you may qualify for non-repayable funding in the form of Federal and Provincial grants if you apply for government student financial assistance.
For BC Residents, apply via StudentAid BC
. For students that are residents of other Canadians provinces, visit Student Loans and Grants.
Recommendation
Due to the advantages offered by the Canadian and Provincial government student financial assistance program, including loans and grants, we recommend that you apply for government student finanical assistance first before looking at student lines of credit or a private loan to fund your studies. If you do decide to pursue private funding sources, be sure to shop around and research the terms and conditions carefully as they can vary between financial institutions. A co-signer may also be required.