All Canada-B.C. integrated loans and B.C. Risk-Sharing and Guaranteed Loans are subject to a maximum number of weeks.
The lifetime maximum weeks for student loan funding are:
- 340 weeks for non-doctoral programs
- 400 weeks (including all weeks accumulated during bachelor and master’s studies) for students in doctoral (PhD-level) studies
- 520 weeks for persons with a permanent disability, or a persistent or prolonged disability
You are no longer entitled to receive further student financial assistance (loans or grants) once you have reached your lifetime maximum weeks of funding. If you reach the lifetime maximum partway through the study period in which you are currently enrolled, student financial assistance will be continued to the end of that study period.
All weeks of study in which you received loans, grants, in-study interest-free status (prior to April 1, 2023), or in-study payment-free status (effective April 1, 2023), are counted towards your lifetime maximum.
If you reach the maximum number of weeks of StudentAid BC funding and are still in full-time studies, you are still eligible for in-study payment-free status and you can defer repayment until the six-month non-payment period following your studies' end date. Your school will need to confirm your enrolment with the National Student Loans Service Center (NSLSC). Apply for payment-free status online through NSLSC portal or submit a paper Confirmation of Enrolment – Schedule 2 form to the NSLSC.