Student Financial Aid in British Columbia: Loans, Grants and How to Apply

How the Application Works

Apply once, through StudentAid BC , and the same application assesses you for federal Canada Student Loans and Grants plus BC's own provincial loans and grants. There is no separate form for each program: enter your income, your family size and your program details once, and the system calculates what you qualify for across both levels of funding.

This program covers BC residents studying at a designated post-secondary institution. What matters for eligibility is BC residency, enrollment in an approved program, and a course load that meets the full-time or part-time threshold your program sets. Apply as early as your institution allows, since processing takes time and your funding needs to arrive before tuition is due.

What You Receive

Your aid package blends loans, money you repay, and grants, money you keep. For the 2025-26 program year, the federal Canada Student Grant for full-time students pays up to $525 a month of study, up to $280 a month if you have dependants, and up to $2,800 a year if you have a documented disability.

The BC Access Grant targets low- and middle-income students in an undergraduate degree, diploma or certificate program at a BC public institution. The amount drops as family income rises, and it excludes master's, doctoral and unclassified studies students. StudentAid BC assesses you for it automatically when you apply, with no separate form to fill out.

Interest-Free BC Loans

BC eliminated interest on its own provincial student loans starting February 19, 2019 , and that policy still applies to BC-issued loans. This only covers the BC portion of your debt. Your federal Canada Student Loan follows separate federal interest rules, so check both when you plan repayment.

Lifetime Loan Limits

StudentAid BC caps how much provincial loan debt you carry over your lifetime, not per year alone. According to StudentAid BC's funding limits , students in non-doctoral programs borrow a BC loan up to $50,000 across 340 weeks of study, doctoral students up to $50,000 across 400 weeks, and students with a documented disability up to $50,000 across 520 weeks. Once you hit the weeks limit, you no longer qualify for a new BC loan even if you have not borrowed the full dollar amount, so plan a multi-year program with that ceiling in mind.

Applying From Other Provinces

StudentAid BC funds BC residents wherever in Canada they study, not only students staying inside the province. If you grew up in BC and move to Ontario or Quebec for a degree, apply through StudentAid BC using your BC residency, not the aid system of the province you study in. If you moved to BC from elsewhere in Canada, you generally establish BC residency after living in the province for a set period outside of full-time study, and StudentAid BC's eligibility pages set out the exact residency rule for your situation.

Keep your documents current with StudentAid BC year over year: a change of address, a new bank account for direct deposit, or a shift from dependant to independent status all affect your assessment and your funding amount. Update your profile before you submit each new program year's application rather than after, so your first disbursement lands on time.

Income and Asset Assessment

StudentAid BC looks at your income, your parents' or spouse's income depending on your dependency status, your assets and your program's tuition and living costs in your specific city to calculate your assessed need. A student in a higher-cost city or a more expensive program generally qualifies for more funding, and savings or other income get subtracted from what you are offered. Reapply every program year, since your assessed need changes with your income and location.

Repayment

Once you drop below full-time study or finish your program, your loans move into repayment through the National Student Loans Service Centre , which handles both your BC and federal loan balances after a six-month non-payment period. If your income after graduation is too low to manage your payments, apply for the Repayment Assistance Plan through the National Student Loans Service Centre, which caps your payment based on income and family size, down to zero in low-income cases.