I am a Canadian, but I’ve been living in the U.S and going to school here. I’m going to college next year and planning on going to Canada. I’m going there this summer to try and get a student line of credit but I had questions about what I could do when it comes to get financial aid and if anyone had any tips for my situation. I’m not sure that the fafsa will help me pay schools over there and I cannot apply for financial help in Canada because I haven’t been living there. Just any other idea or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Have you added Canadian schools to your FAFSA? Some schools in Canada are on the FAFSA, while some are not. I did mine in October and I applied to UBC, SFU, UAlberta and UAlberta but UAlberta does not offer the FAFSA for US students.
Yes I added them to the fafsa but there was only one college I wanted to go to on there, the other two weren’t.
And although the school I might be choosing isn’t on there once I completed it said to send proof of citizenship to the colleges. And when I called to ask they told me to call fafsa which was another thing itself bc I shouldn’t get hold of a human.
But other from the fafsa would u recommend anything else, like would I be able to apply for osap if I lived there for an amount of time. I don’t think I can rely on the fafsa wondering if anyone had any idea for my situation
Are you an eligible non-citizen for FAFSA? The US government gives federal financial aid to US citizens regardless of where in the world they reside, but only to a very select number of non-citizens residing in the US (mostly green card holders).
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/eligibility/non-us-citizens
If you are a qualifying non-citizen, odds are that you will lose your qualifying immigration status sooner or later once you move to Canada for university.
To qualify for OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Plan) it’s not enough to be a Canadian citizen, you have to have been a full-time resident in Ontario for 12 months previous to attending a post-secondary institution, so no, you won’t qualify for OSAP unless you move back to Ontario and take a gap year or do a victory lap (5th year of high school).
I am not an expert on this, but it seems that you may qualify for OSAP immediately after moving to Ontario. Carleton University’s website has this bullet point about Ontario residency for OSAP purposes:
- you live in Ontario now AND have lived in Canada for less than 12 months in a row
https://carleton.ca/awards/osap-eligibility-definitions/
I have been poking around the OSAP site but I couldn’t find a definition of “Ontario resident” anywhere.
@hiddenAce Have you ever lived or attended school in Canada? If you have, that will determine the province that is in charge of student aid for you.
For OSAP, you can check your eligibility and other details through links on this page https://osap.gov.on.ca/OSAPPortal/en/PostsecondaryEducation/OSAP/WhatisOSAP/HowDoesOSAPWork/OSAP003445.html
I am a eligible non citizen @b@r!um but the schools that I have applied to are not listed on the Fafsa so I don’t want to rely on it and Yeah I was wondering if because of the fact that I will be living there, if in my 2nd year I could apply for it then
@bouders I lived in Quebec when I was really young for about 3 years but didn’t attend any schooling there, I’ve been in school in the U.S since 1st grade. So as of right now I am not eligible for it.
My plan is to set up a line of credit with TD bank and during year 2 of college apply for school based scholarships and OSAP, if allowed since I would have been there for a total of 12 months by then. Guessing by the helpful responses that this might be the only smart plan.
Question: Do schools in Canada send out finance packets like they do in the U.S just so I could get a full understanding on which school would be the cheapest for me to attend?
Also do you guys think that this plan I have sounds good enough or should I look into something more reliable?
Macleans magazine does annual rankings and tables for Canadian universities. If you can get a hold of their annual universities issue, it’s full of useful information. Here’s their estimated cost table:
http://www.macleans.ca/education/university-rankings-2018-the-cost-for-students-who-move-away-from-home/
Make sure to check their methodology behind the numbers to see if they’re relevant to you. Otherwise, some universities have cost calculators (also just estimates), or you just have to tediously estimate yourself based on cost per credit, mandatory student fees, dorm fees and meal plan.
@hiddenAce Schools in Canada don’t send out finance packets.They charge everyone the same amounts. They might give you a small scholarship, often $1-2K, but that would be in your letter of admission. Financial aid is handled by the provincial government.
OSAP was overhauled last year so some of their websites are out of date. I couldn’t find an Ontario resident definition on their website. The Carlton website says you don’t qualify, based on info further down the page
Fanshawe College also has definitions of Ontario resident on their website https://www.fanshawec.ca/resident-ontario
If your parents had never lived in Canada, you’d be good for OSAP. Since you and they lived in Quebec and moved away, you’re no longer eligible for Quebec assistance either.
TD student loans require a co-signor and the maximum you can borrow is $60000 over 4 years.
But if you were born in Quebec you may be eligible for the very low Quebec tuition rate at McGill.
“Question: Do schools in Canada send out finance packets like they do in the U.S just so I could get a full understanding on which school would be the cheapest for me to attend?”
My daughters are dual (US and Canada) citizens who were born in the US and lived their entire live in the US prior to going to university. One is now attending university in Canada. When she applied, she heard back rather quickly about acceptance, but on the most part heard about financial aid somewhat later. She still heard back about aid well before she needed to decide which school to attend, and probably as early or earlier than she would have expected to hear about admissions in the US.
“Also do you guys think that this plan I have sounds good enough or should I look into something more reliable?”
Do you have some money to attend university? If so, then what is your budget?
“But if you were born in Quebec you may be eligible for the very low Quebec tuition rate at McGill.”
True. However, if you were born in the US, but also have Canadian citizenship, then you are still eligible for the very low Quebec tuition rate at McGill.
@DadTwoGirls"Do you have some money to attend university? If so, then what is your budget?"
I do not have any money as of right now, I was planning on trying to earn a little bit during the summer but I was completely just going to get loans from TD bank, student line of credit?
@bouders “Schools in Canada don’t send out finance packets.They charge everyone the same amounts. They might give you a small scholarship, often $1-2K, but that would be in your letter of admission. Financial aid is handled by the provincial government.”
So there’s no possible financial aid that I can receive, I’ll have to go fully on student line of credit, loans?
I’m choosing between Lakehead and Brock University at the moment and didn’t apply for mcgill
@hiddenAce Schools also have bursaries. I’d call up Lakehead and Brock’s financial aid offices and see if they can help. You have a unique situation.