Repayment Assistance for Borrowers with Permanent Disabilities

Loan Forgiveness

Ontario’s Medical Loan Forgiveness for the Ontario portion of student loans may be available to those borrowers who have a permanent disability that is expected to substantially reduce their earning capacity for their lifetime. All available periods of Interest Relief (see below) on the Ontario portion of your Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan (full-time student loan) must first be used before applying for Medical Loan Forgiveness.

Canada’s Permanent Disability Benefit, an immediate loan forgiveness program for the Canada portion of full-time student loans and/or for Part-Time Canada Student Loans, may be available to borrowers who will never be able to repay their student loans due to a severe permanent disability. For more information visit www.canlearn.ca.

Interest Relief and Debt Reduction

If you qualify for interest relief on the Ontario portion of your student loans, no payment will be due towards the Ontario portion. Eligibility is based on gross family income, student loan debt, and family size. Each term of eligibility is for 6 months and you must reapply to be considered for additional terms. You receive up to 54 months on Interest Relief within the first 5 years of leaving school. If you are at least 5 years out of schools and have reached 30 months or more of interest relief, you can apply for Medical Loan Forgiveness.

If you apply and are not approved for Medical Loan Forgiveness, you can apply for the Ontario Debt Reduction in Repayment Program (DRR).

The Accelerated Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with Permanent Disabilities (RAP-PD) is debt reduction for the Canada portion of your full-time student loan and/or for your Part-Time Canada Student Loan. It is available to student loan borrowers with permanent disabilities who are having difficulty repaying. You may be ineligible for accelerated repayment assistance if you are currently restricted from eligibility for student loans from the Government of Canada and/or the province from which your student loans were issued. Borrowers with permanent disabilities will be assessed based on gross family income, student loan debt, and extra costs faced by borrowers with permanent disabilities. If you qualify, you will either have no loan payment or a reduced loan payment during the eligibility period. In both cases, the federal government will make a monthly payment towards your loan principal so that the debt is paid off over a maximum of 10 years from when you entered repayment after finishing school. For more information please visit www.canlearn.ca.

How to Apply for Interest Relief and Debt Reduction

For your Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan and your Part-Time Canada Student Loan, you only have to fill out one repayment assistance application in order to be considered for interest relief and debt reduction on your student loans. This application is available from the National Student Loan Service Centre (NSLSC).

Toll Free: 1 888 815-4514 (within North America)

1 800 225-2501 (outside North America)

TTY : 1 888 815-4556

If you also hold Canada Student Loans negotiated prior to August 1, 2000 and/or Ontario Student Loans negotiated prior to August 1, 2001, in addition to a Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan, you will also submit only one application to the NSLSC as described above.

If you hold only a Canada Student Loan issued prior to August 1, 2000 and/or an Ontario Student Loan negotiated prior to August 1, 2001, (and do not hold a Canada-Ontario Integrated Student Loan), you must apply for repayment assistance through the financial institution that issued your student loans.