Grant to loan details

What is grant to loan conversion?

Students who receive the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant and meet all the requirements of the grant (i.e., complete their studies, graduate, and then complete their service commitment) will never have to pay back the grant money they receive. However, in cases where the terms and conditions of the grant are not met, a grant may be converted into a loan, and you may need to pay back the money you received.

When you applied for the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant, you completed an Application Agreement indicating that you understood that any Ontario Learn and Stay Grant you receive may be converted into a loan if:

  • you withdraw from your program or stop taking the minimum required course load
  • you transfer to another school or program
  • you do not fulfill your service commitment requirements after you complete your program

If your Ontario Learn and Stay Grant is converted into a loan, it will become an Ontario Student Loan and will be subjected to the same terms and conditions as an Ontario Student Loan. This means that you will need to pay it back to the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) once you are done with your studies. If you already have OSAP loans from full-time or part-time studies, your converted Ontario Learn and Stay Grant will be added to your existing loan balance.

Grant conversion statuses

Your Service Commitment and Study Period Information screen will display further details regarding the conversion status for any impacted study periods:

  • Pending: your funding is scheduled to being converted, but has not converted yet.
  • Converted: your funding has been converted to an Ontario Student Loan and must be repaid to the NSLSC.

Review options

If you feel that your grant has been scheduled for conversion as a result of extenuating circumstances beyond your control you can submit an Exceptional Circumstance Review form, available to access from the ministry’s public OSAP website (ontario.ca/OSAP) under the “Forms” section. If you have any questions, you can contact the ministry’s general inquiry phone line at 1-877-672-7411.