Overview
Student Aid puts a limit on how much money you can get. There are two kinds of loan limits:
- your annual loan limit is the maximum amount of loan money you can get per year
- your lifetime loan limit is the maximum amount of student debt you can have, including all the loans you receive over your whole life
There are limits on both Alberta and Canada loans.
Loan limits are especially important to students with high expenses or those who depend on student loans for many years.
Annual loan limits
Your annual loan limit is the maximum amount of Alberta and Canada student loans you can get for one year of study.
Your annual loan limit depends on your program of study.
|
Program |
Annual loan limit for students studying |
||
|
1 Semester (1 to 4 months) |
2 Semesters (5 to 9 months) |
3 Semesters (10 to 12 months) |
|
|
Bachelor’s Degree Certificate Diploma Journeyman Certificate |
$8,500 |
$17,000 |
$25,500 |
|
Dental Hygiene Pharmacy Master of Business Administration Law Other Graduate and Doctoral Programs |
$12,750 |
$25,500 |
$34,000 |
|
Chiropractic Medicine Dentistry Medicine Optometry Veterinary Medicine |
$12,750 |
$25,500 |
$42,500 |
Requesting more than your annual loan limit
There are circumstances where you can request up to $8,500 more than your annual loan limit:
- if you run into costs outside of your control, such as a natural disaster.
- if you are in your final year of a degree program, and need more loans to finish.
- if you are in any of the programs listed in the last box, and haven’t exceeded your lifetime loan limit.
- If you reach your annual loan limit but need more money, you can request a review of your account.
Lifetime loan limits
Your lifetime loan limit is the maximum amount of student debt you can have at one time. This includes all Alberta and Canada loans you received for your current program and any past programs.
Your lifetime loan limit depends on your current program of study.
A new lifetime loan limit is established for open studies and undergraduate programs of one year or less. The new loan limit of $51,000 is equivalent to two years of the maximum standard annual loan limit of $25,500.
|
Program |
Lifetime loan limit |
| One Year Undergraduate Programs including: Certificate, Diploma, and Apprenticeship Programs |
$51,000 |
|
Undergraduate Programs of two years or more in length including: Bachelor’s Degree Certificate Diploma Journeyman Certificate |
$85,000 *Up to $68,000 for either Commercial Aviation Training (maximum of $17,000 for each of four approved fixed wing training components), or for Commercial Helicopter Training. |
|
Dental Hygiene |
$95,000 |
|
Pharmacy Graduate Studies |
$125,000 |
|
Law Masters of Business Administration Doctoral Studies |
$150,000 |
|
Chiropractic Medicine Dentistry Medicine Optometry Veterinary Medicine |
$200,000 |
Your limit changes when your program does. For example, if you have debt from a bachelor’s degree and then enroll in a graduate program your lifetime loan limit goes from $85,000 to $125,000.
Requesting more than your lifetime loan limit
There are circumstances where you can request more than your lifetime loan limit:
- if you are in the final year of a degree program and need more loans to finish
- if you didn’t cash all the loans you were approved for in the past
- if you reached your lifetime loan limit but already paid back some of your loans
If you need more money for any of these reasons, you can request a review of your account.
Part-time loan limits
Part-time students can have an outstanding loan balance of up to $10,000. This amount is your loan limit.
If you pay back part of your loan, you can take out that amount again, but you can’t exceed your loan limit.
Grants do not contribute to your loan limit.
Time limit for Canada loans
The Canadian government has different rules about loan limits than Alberta.
Canada loan limits are based on number of weeks rather than dollar amount. Most students can receive Canada student loans for up to 340 weeks, including interest-free periods while you’re in school, except:
- students in doctoral studies have 400 weeks
- students with disabilities have 520 weeks
This means:
- if you reach your lifetime loan limit (see chart above) but not your Canada time limit, you can still receive up to $300 per week of study from Canada
- if you reach your time limit, you can still receive loans from Alberta if you haven’t reached your lifetime loan limit
Students are no longer eligible to receive part-time financial assistance once they reach their maximum of 340 weeks of full-time studies. Part-time studies continue to not contribute to this maximum number of weeks.