Loans for Canadians!

[Eye-Spy]

hi all,

I am a Canadian planning on heading to opt school at ICO in the fall, and i have some questions about student loans that are available to Canadians studying in the US.

I know that three main sources of funding available are CanHELP, student lines of credit from banks, and Canadian federal student loans. I'm most interested in the differences and pros/cons between CanHELP and lines of credit as I'm from Ontario and OSAP will not make too much of a dent in my expenses.

I totally appreciate any opinions and information that anyone has... i'm new to this finances business and i'm just trying to get things sorted out in my head so i can pursue my options.

Thanks Much!!!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Canadian26]

Ive been adviced agianst CanHelp by alot of ppl. I dont recall the reason why, but I still have the package. I think its something with the way that they calculate intrest and how much you have to pay back? As for lines of credit Ive gotten 2.... which should cover. But im taking out federal loans as well. This is because with lines of credit you have to pay the interst back right away, and with federal loans its no payments until 6months after you graduate.

Also speaking of fedral loans... I cant seem to apply till May 1st this is the case for everyone?

 

[jefguth]

Ive been adviced agianst CanHelp by alot of ppl. I dont recall the reason why, but I still have the package. I think its something with the way that they calculate intrest and how much you have to pay back? As for lines of credit Ive gotten 2.... which should cover. But im taking out federal loans as well. This is because with lines of credit you have to pay the interst back right away, and with federal loans its no payments until 6months after you graduate.

Also speaking of fedral loans... I cant seem to apply till May 1st this is the case for everyone?

I don't actually have canHelp loans, but when I looked into them I was rather put off by their disburment fees, and higher rate of interest. The main benefit of them though is that you don't have to make any payments until you actually start paying it back. Contrast that to Canadian lines of credit where you're paying interest monthly.

 

[j-dawg]

Canadian26,

You say you got 2 lines of credit? Are they from two different Canadian banks and did they penalize you on the second line of credit because you already have a line of credit? I am headed to the U.S. for opto school in the fall and have been trying to look into these things. I know that they deduct the amount of OSAP (for Ontarians) from the amount of your line of credit.

 

[curious5321]

I don't even think it is $10,000...if you go out of the country you only get the federal portion of OSAP, not the Provinical, which I think is $210 per study week.

 

[jefguth]

I don't even think it is $10,000...if you go out of the country you only get the federal portion of OSAP, not the Provinical, which I think is $210 per study week.

It depends on your tuition expenses and what your income was for the year. A friend of mine recieved ~7000 from osap in first year, and ~10000 the second year...after she spent the whole summer travelling and had zero income for the year.

I you have any RESP money lying around I suggest you use it ASAP so that you can max the OSAP later on, especially if you you haven't yet been out of highschool for four years. Learn from my mistake

 

[Eye-Spy]

Thanks for your input everyone!

So it seems like the way to go may be a combination of OHIP and lines of credit. My only concerns with the line of credit idea is that a) the borrowed money is in Canadian funds, and b) have to start paying interest right away.

everyone seems put off by fees and interest rates on the CanHELP loans, so is the consensus that the negatives of CanHELP outweigh the problems with lines of credit?