ABOUT OSAP
Planning
Grants, Bursaries and Other Forms of Non-Repayable Financial Assistance
In addition to student loans, OSAP also provides grant, bursary, scholarship and fellowship assistance, which students are not required to repay.
What is it?
Grant/Bursary: A grant or bursary is an amount of money you receive to help finance your education that you typically do not have to pay back. A grant or bursary is usually awarded based on financial need and other factors. Some are designed for special student groups, like students studying in French.
Scholarship/Fellowship: A scholarship or fellowship is money you receive that helps finance your education and that you typically do not have to pay back. It is usually awarded based on academic merit and other factors.
Is it taxable?
The full amount of scholarships, grants and bursaries that are received by students with respect to their enrolment in a program that entitles them to claim the education amount are not taxable and are no longer reported as income on tax returns.
For more information, see the guide "Students and Income Tax," available on the Canada Revenue Agency website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca.
Learning more
In this section of the website you can learn more about eligibility criteria, the value of awards, application deadlines and methods of application for individual OSAP grant, bursary, and fellowship programs including:
- Non-repayable assistance for full-time students
- Non-repayable assistance for part-time students
- Non-repayable assistance to help students with loan repayment
OSAP is not the only source of non-repayable assistance. Postsecondary institutions also offer institutional scholarships and bursaries.
