What do I need to repay?
If you received OSAP during your study period, you need to repay if:
- you took an OSAP loan
- you received a grant or bursary overpayment (this may happen if you received more grants or bursaries than you should have, for example: your study period plans changed after you received your money)
- your grant gets converted to a loan
OSAP Repayment Calculator
Interested in getting an estimate of what your monthly loan payments will be when you leave school? Use the OSAP repayment calculator for full-time OSAP loans to find out.
Pay back OSAP step-by-step
- 1 Graduate or leave full-time studies
- 2 Estimate your monthly payments
- 3 Sign into your National Student Loans Service Centre account
- 4 Get your repayment package
- 5 Start repaying your loan
Graduate or leave full-time studies
Once you graduate or leave full-time studies, you have six months before you have to start repaying your loans.
Please note: since loans are made up of federal and provincial portions, you'll be charged interest on the provincial portion of your loan during the six-month grace period after finishing your studies. This interest is added to your loan principal (the balance of money you borrow).
Between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2023, Canada will not be charging the interest on the federal portion of an OSAP loan.
Estimate your monthly payments
We recommend using the OSAP repayment calculator early on so you know what to expect and can budget accordingly after your six-month grace period.
Sign into your National Student Loans Service Centre account
Your National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) account is very important when it comes to repaying your OSAP loans. Through your account, you can manage your loan, make payments, and apply for repayment help if you need it. (More on that below)
Get your repayment package
Within six months after you graduate or leave full-time studies, you'll get a package from NSLSC that tells you:
- your total number of payments
- the date of your first payment
- the interest rates used to calculate your payment
Start repaying your loan
Your payments are based on a 9.5 year pay-back schedule. This pay-back schedule is the average amount of time it takes to pay back an OSAP loan.
Repaying student loans is an excellent way to establish and improve your credit score. You can make additional payments on your loan at any time if you want to repay it faster.
What if I need help repaying my loan?
Extend your grace period
You may be able to extend your six-month grace period if :
Get repayment assistance
You can apply to the Repayment Assistance Plan to lower your monthly loan payments for a six-month period. If you qualify, during the repayment assistance period, you will either:
- be exempt from making monthly loan payments during the six-month eligibility period
- make your monthly affordable payment
Extend your repayment period
If you want to lower your monthly loan payments, you can extend your repayment period from 9.5 years up to 14.5 years. You can do this through your National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) account.
