Online student aid portal streamlined
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/07/2023 (996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
STUDENT aid recipients can now apply for, and manage, their provincial and federal loans under a mega-portal and repayment system.
The process was delayed several months, but the provincial and federal governments have completed the integration of their respective student borrower programs.
Advanced Education Minister Sarah Guillemard announced the development, which sets up a “one student, one loan model,” in a news release Friday.
“The integration of Manitoba and Canada student loans will make it simpler for students to keep track of their student loans while they are in school, and reduce red tape for borrowers in repayment,” Guillemard said in the release.
Federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough echoed those comments.
Students had been required to navigate applications and repayments through Manitoba Student Aid and the National Student Loans Service Centre.
The streamlined set-up allows recipients to use one portal — the latter system — and make a single monthly payment that applies to their federal and provincial loan debts upon graduation.
Local students will benefit from the Ottawa program’s self-service options and extended call-centre hours, per Manitoba Student Aid.
The provincial office will continue to assess new applications, reassessments and funding appeals.
The changes, which took effect this month, were initially scheduled to take place in early spring.
They affect new applicants and roughly 38,000 borrowers with existing student loans in Manitoba.
To date, six provinces have integrated student borrowing administration with the national program.
Provincial and federal loans are now interest-free during a borrower’s studies and after a client stops attending classes on a full-time basis.
Ottawa announced it would start providing interest-free loans to students earlier this year; the changes came into effect on April 1.
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.
Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.
Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.
Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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