Repayment Assistance Plan: How It Works, Who Qualifies, and How to Apply

Canada’s Repayment Assistance Plan reduces or eliminates your monthly federal student loan payment for six months at a time, based on your gross family income and household size. A single borrower earning less than $3,788 per month pays nothing during the term.¹ You apply through the National Student Loans Service Centre, and you have to be living in Canada and current on your loan when you apply.

Who Qualifies

Three conditions decide eligibility: you live in Canada, your loans have been in repayment for at least six months since you left school, and you are current on your payments.¹ Two narrow exceptions let you apply from outside Canada: military reservists and their spouses deployed abroad, and borrowers doing an international internship of one year or less.

Being current on payments is the gate that closes fastest. Once you miss enough payments for the loan to go to collections, RAP is off the table. For federal student loans, the Canada Revenue Agency takes over collection after nine months of missed payments.² Apply before you fall behind, not after.

Income Thresholds and How Your Payment Is Calculated

RAP uses your gross monthly family income and household size to decide whether you pay nothing, a reduced amount, or your regular payment. Effective April 1, 2026, the zero-payment thresholds are:¹

Family of 1: $3,788 per month
Family of 2: $4,444 per month
Family of 3: $5,444 per month
Family of 4: $6,283 per month
Family of 5: $7,026 per month
Family of 6: $7,696 per month
Family of 7 or more: $8,313 per month

If your family income comes in below the threshold for your household size, your payment for the six-month term is zero. Above the threshold, you pay a reduced amount calculated as a percentage of the income sitting above your threshold, adjusted for household size and for how much of the household’s total student debt is yours versus a partner’s. Your assisted payment will never be higher than what you would owe on the standard repayment schedule.

Gross family income means everything before taxes and deductions: employment earnings, investment income, and government benefits. If you have a spouse or common-law partner, their income counts too. That is where people get surprised. You can personally earn very little and still owe a reduced (rather than zero) payment because your partner’s income lifts the household above the line.

What the Government Pays For

Canada Student Loans have been interest-free since April 1, 2023, so the federal portion of your balance is not accruing interest whether or not you are on RAP.³ RAP still works in two stages, and the shift between them decides how quickly your balance actually shrinks.

Stage 1: Interest Coverage

In the first stage, the government covers any interest owed on the federal portion of your loan that your reduced payment does not cover.¹ With federal interest now eliminated, Stage 1 mainly keeps your principal from growing while you pay less or nothing. Any provincial portion may still carry interest under its own rules.

Stage 2: Principal Reduction

After 60 months on RAP, or 10 years after you leave school (whichever comes first), the government starts paying down both the principal and any remaining interest on your federal loan.¹ This is when the balance actually drops even if your own payment is zero. For long-term low-income borrowers, Stage 2 is what eventually clears the debt.

One catch in Stage 2: you can no longer receive new federal student grants or loans. If you want to go back to school with government funding, you would need to clear the remaining balance first. That restriction does not apply to RAP-D.

RAP-D for Borrowers with a Permanent Disability

Borrowers with a permanent disability can apply to a separate stream called RAP-D. The government begins paying down both principal and interest from the start, skipping the 60-month wait entirely.¹ RAP-D borrowers can also keep receiving new grants and loans while their balance is being reduced.

To qualify, a licensed medical practitioner has to complete the Verification of Disability form. A physician, nurse practitioner, audiologist, optometrist, or psychologist registered in the jurisdiction where the assessment happens can sign it. The government may ask you to keep receipts for disability-related expenses, because those can factor into how your payment is calculated.⁴

How to Apply

You apply through the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) online portal.¹ Before you start, have these ready:

Your gross monthly income for the previous month, before taxes, including employment pay, investment income, and government benefits.
Your spouse or partner’s gross monthly income, if you are not single.
Your household size, which sets your threshold.
The completed Verification of Disability form, if you are applying to RAP-D.

The application uses the most recent month’s income. If your earnings swing month to month, that one snapshot determines your payment for the next six months. Paper applications are available by mail for borrowers without internet access; the mailing address is on the form itself.

Keep making your regular payments while your application is under review. Falling behind during that window would knock you out of eligibility.

If your application is selected for sample-based income verification, the NSLSC will ask for supporting documents, usually pay stubs. Report accurately the first time so you are not reassessed later.

Provincial Loans Are Handled Separately

RAP applies only to the federal portion of your student debt. If your province runs an integrated program with the federal government, both parts are administered together through the NSLSC, but the province sets its own thresholds and coverage rules for its share.¹ As of early 2026, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and Saskatchewan run integrated programs.⁵

Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island offer federal loans alongside their own provincial aid. If you have a PEI loan, you need to apply for provincial repayment assistance separately from the federal RAP application. Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories run their own student aid programs entirely and do not participate in the federal loan program, so RAP does not apply there.⁵ For any question about how your provincial loan interacts with RAP, contact your province directly.

Six-Month Terms and Reapplication

Each RAP approval lasts six months. When the term ends, your payment reverts to the standard amount unless you reapply with updated income and household information.¹ Reapplication is not automatic, because the government is reassessing whether you still qualify and recalculating the number.

Missing the reapplication deadline is one of the most expensive mistakes borrowers make with this program. If your assisted payment was zero and your regular payment is several hundred dollars, the full amount is due immediately when the term expires. There is no grace period on the switch. Set a reminder well before the six months end. You do not have to report income changes mid-term, but a raise or a new job will show up when you reapply.

You can stay on RAP as long as you keep qualifying. Once you hit the 60-month or 10-year mark, the program shifts from freezing your balance to actively paying it down for you, and for borrowers who stay low-income, that is the mechanism that eventually retires the federal loan.

1
Government of Canada. Repayment Assistance Plan
2
Government of Canada. Repay a Student Loan – Can’t Repay
3
Government of Canada. Government of Canada Provides Interest-Free Loans for Students
4
Employment and Social Development Canada. Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with Disabilities – Verification of Disability
5
Government of Canada. Canada Student Grants and Loans – What Student Grants and Loans Offer