Eligibility for the Canada Repayment Assistance Plan

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for federal RAP on their Canada student loan, borrowers must meet the conditions referenced at Repayment Assistance Plan Eligibility on Canada.ca.

Eligibility for the Alberta Repayment Assistance Plan

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for Alberta RAP on their Alberta student loan, borrowers must:

• be in repayment status on the loan,
• be in good standing on the loan,
• not be restricted from Alberta RAP due to failing to make previous RAP Affordable Payments,
• not have had the loan included in a bankruptcy,
• provide all requested documents to support the RAP application, and
• meet financial eligibility requirements by having a calculated Affordable Payment that is less than their Required Payment.

Financial Eligibility

To be financially eligible for Alberta RAP, borrowers must have a lower RAP Affordable Payment than their RAP Required Payment.

Required Payment is defined as:

• In Stage 1, the Required Payment is equal to the amount the borrower’s monthly payment would be if their outstanding principal were amortized over 120 months, less the number of months since they most recently ceased to be a student, plus the number of months in which they received RAP or Interest Relief since most recently ceasing to be a student.
  
  
• In Stage 2, the Required Payment is derived by amortizing the borrower’s loan over 180 months minus the number of months since the borrower ceased to be a student.

Effective July 1, 2023:
Alberta RAP Affordable Payments are calculated using the following table and formula:

Note: Canada RAP thresholds are different from Alberta RAP thresholds. Students should refer to the Government of Canada website for the Canada RAP income threshold table and eligibility.

Affordable Payment Formula:

A borrower’s monthly Affordable Payment is the lesser of:
a) A * 0.1 * their gross monthly family income, or
b) A * 1.5 [(X-Ti) / Si / 100 + 0.01] * their gross monthly family income.

where:

A = the applicant’s debt as a proportion of the total debt of the applicant and that of the spouse or common-law partner

X = applicant’s monthly family gross income
T = $0 Payment Threshold amount for applicant’s family size (see table above)
S = increment value for applicant’s family size (see table above)
i = denotes family size.

Backdating Criteria

Borrowers who have interest owing at the time they apply for RAP will automatically have their RAP effective date considered for backdating. The borrower must have met the RAP financial eligibility criteria for the month prior to the date of which the application is signed, to be considered for backdating.

RAP applications may be backdated up to six months and/or up to three months of interest can be capitalized.

For borrowers with both federal and provincial loans, the aligning of the Alberta RAP period end date with the federal RAP period end date will always take precedence over backdating.

RAP for Loans Held by Financial Institutions

When a borrower with an Alberta Student Loan that is held by a financial institution (i.e. Royal Bank) applies for RAP, the borrower’s Alberta student loans held by the financial institution will be transferred to the Alberta Student Aid Service Centre. Any RAP benefits will be administered by the Alberta Student Aid Service Centre.

Request for Review of RAP Eligibility

Borrowers who have not met the financial eligibility criteria for RAP may submit a written request to Alberta Student Aid to review their RAP eligibility. Similarly, borrowers who have been approved for RAP may request a review of their reduced Affordable Payments under certain circumstances.

How the Alberta Repayment Assistance Plan Works

Stage 1 of RAP is designed to provide relief to borrowers with temporary repayment difficulties, while Stage 2 of RAP provides longer-term relief for borrowers with ongoing difficulties.

Stage 1 RAP

The government (federal or provincial, according to the loan type) pays any interest that the borrower’s affordable payment does not cover.

A borrower will be placed in RAP Stage 1 if:

• the first day of the month in which they applied for RAP is within 120 months of when they ceased to be a student, and
  
  
• the borrower has not received 60 cumulative months of RAP and/or Interest Relief since they ceased to be a student.

Stage 2 RAP

The government pays the difference between the borrower’s monthly affordable payment and the borrower’s required payment (when the loan is amortized over 15 years), thereby reducing the loan’s principal balance. The result is that no borrower who continues to qualify for RAP will have a repayment period that lasts more than 15 years since the time they stopped being a student.

Borrowers who enter Stage 2 of RAP are restricted from receiving further federal funding if they return to studies until their debt is repaid. Borrowers are eligible to receive further provincial funding.

An eligible borrower will be placed in RAP Stage 2 if either of the following applies:

• the first day of the month in which they applied for RAP is more than 120 months after they ceased to be a student, or
  
  
• the borrower has received more than 60 cumulative months of RAP Stage 1 and/or Interest Relief since they ceased to be a student.