If you’re going to school full-time and have previous loans then you must ensure that those loans are placed into interest-free status. If they aren’t, you’ll have to start repaying them 6 months from the end of your last school term. For most students, who leave school in April and are starting a new term in September, this must happen before the end of October. If you delay, you may not get full interest-free status and you may be required to pay some interest.
For your loans to be placed into interest-free status, the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) must be informed that you are in full-time studies. This can be done one of two ways: Confirmation of Enrolment (COE) process or Continuation of Interest-Free Status (CIFS) application. See below for details on the two different processes.
If you’re not getting OSAP or if your application is unlikely to be removed from hold before you have to start repaying your loans, you should complete a Continuation of Interest-Free Status (CIFS) application. It’s available online through your OSAP account. A paper copy is also available on ontario.ca/osap. You can submit your application up to 15 days before the start of your study period. It takes about 3 weeks to process, so it’s critical that you submit your application in enough time for it to be processed within 6 months from the end of your last school term. Once processed, the NSLSC will be informed and your loans placed into interest-free status.
If the ministry has determined that you should have adequate resources available to cover your allowable educational costs your school will confirm your enrolment in full-time studies and the NSLSC will be advised so that they can place your loans in interest-free status. All schools in Ontario and several outside Ontario will confirm your enrolment electronically. If your school doesn’t use this electronic process, then a paper Confirmation of Enrolment form (COE) must be completed by your school. You’ll be able to print your personalized COE form online by logging into your OSAP account. A copy will be mailed to you if you’ve asked the ministry to mail all forms to you. For the latest information about what process is used to confirm your enrolment, log into your OSAP account and check the status of your application.
If your application is taken off hold and you’re getting OSAP, your school will confirm your enrolment in full-time studies and the NSLSC will be advised so that they can place your loans in interest-free status. All schools in Ontario and several outside Ontario will confirm your enrolment electronically. If your school doesn’t use this electronic process, then a paper Confirmation of Enrolment form (COE) must be completed by your school. You’ll be able to print your personalized COE form online by logging into your OSAP account. A copy will be mailed to you if you’ve asked the ministry to mail all forms to you. For the latest information about what process is used to confirm your enrolment, log into your OSAP account and check the status of your application.
If you don’t get your OSAP funding within 6 months from the end of your last school term, you should consider completing a Continuation of Interest-Free Status (CIFS) application instead of waiting for your enrolment to be confirmed (as it may happen too late and your loans will go into repayment status). See the instructions in the section above.