Budget 2025 Cuts Off the Canada Student Grant for Most Private Career College Students
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Money & Budgeting, Canadian Universities & Colleges, Canadian Student Aid & Scholarships, Canada Higher Ed News & Policy
From August 1, 2026, pending regulatory approval, the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students only goes to students at public or not-for-profit institutions. For-profit private career college students in 2-year-plus programs lose the grant. Students in shorter for-profit programs were never eligible for it.
💵 The 2025-26 CSG-FT maximum is $4,200 a year, plus up to $2,240 per dependant.
The rule change applies from the 2026-27 school year.
CSG-FT payments to private institutions grew 320% between 2019-20 and 2023-24, from $68.7 million to $288.5 million.
Ottawa expects to save $1 billion over four years starting 2026-27.
Affected students keep interest-free Canada Student Loans, dependant grants, disability grants and part-time study grants.
What Budget 2025 changes
Budget 2025, tabled in November 2025, restricts the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students (CSG-FT) to students enrolled at public institutions and not-for-profit private institutions, according to University Affairs . The change takes effect August 1, 2026, pending regulatory approval, and applies from the 2026-27 school year, per Employment and Social Development Canada .
CSG-FT already required enrollment in a program of at least 60 weeks, roughly two years, to qualify. That baseline rule does not change. What changes is which institutions count as eligible: for-profit private career colleges drop off the eligible list entirely, even for students already enrolled in a qualifying two-year-plus program. The budget also proposes legislative and regulatory amendments aimed at integrity issues at private post-secondary institutions, though the government has not released the detail of those amendments yet.
Why Ottawa is doing this
CSG-FT payments going to students at private institutions rose 320% in five years, from $68.7 million in 2019-20 to $288.5 million in 2023-24, against a 37% rise for public colleges and universities over the same stretch. The number of private career college students in two-year-plus programs nearly tripled since 2019. The government points to weaker employment outcomes and lower loan repayment rates among these graduates as the reason for the change, and expects it to save $1 billion over four years starting 2026-27. That funding squeeze isn't limited to Ottawa's grant budget either: a number of Canadian universities and colleges are also running budget deficits heading into 2025-26.
Who keeps the grant and who does not
| Institution type | CSG-FT status from 2026-27 |
|---|---|
| Public college or university | Unaffected |
| Not-for-profit private institution | Unaffected |
| For-profit private career college, program under 2 years | Never eligible for CSG-FT, no change |
| For-profit private career college, program 2 years or longer | Loses CSG-FT eligibility |
What you keep if you lose CSG-FT
If your program loses grant eligibility, you keep access to interest-free Canada Student Loans, up to $300 a week, plus grants for dependants, disability-related grants and part-time study grants. You lose only the full-time base grant, worth up to $4,200 for the 2025-26 academic year, and up to $2,240 per dependant on top of that.
Money moving elsewhere in the same budget
The CSG-FT restriction sits inside a wider Budget 2025 package for students and young workers. Ottawa put $1.5 billion over three years into youth and student employment programs in the same budget, including $594.7 million for Canada Summer Jobs, $635.2 million for the Student Work Placement Program, $307.9 million for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy and $40 million for the Youth Climate Corps, per University Affairs . None of that funding restores CSG-FT eligibility for affected private career college students.
What to do if this affects you
Check your institution's status with your province's student aid office before you commit to a 2026-27 start date at a private career college. If you are partway through a program at a for-profit private career college, ask your financial aid office whether your current CSG-FT eligibility carries through to graduation or ends with the 2026-27 change, since the regulation was still pending approval when this rule was announced.