Update on COVID 19
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information Update
Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) Program Update
The Government of Canada has updated information on CERB program eligibility which may apply to students and international students residing in Canada. Benefit applications are set to launch April 6, 2020.
Federal Travel Restrictions Update
The Government of Canada announced exemptions to air travel restrictions in response to COVID-19. Exemptions will apply to international students, temporary foreign workers and approved permanent residents to enter Canada.
StudentAid BC would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all our institutional partners who are working incredibly hard to support students during this challenging time.
Please review measures outlined below that have been put in place to mitigate any potential impacts related to COVID-19 on students who receive financial assistance.
Temporary Suspension of Repayment
Effective March 30, 2020, all British Columbia student loan borrowers will temporarily have their repayments suspended until September 30, 2020. During this time, no payment will be required, and interest that currently applies to the federal portion of student loans will not accrue. Repayment will be paused automatically, so borrowers do not need to apply to have their repayment suspended.
For more information on the suspension of repayment, please read the COVID-19 Information Update on the StudentAid BC website.
Service Delivery Process Changes
The following process changes have been put in place to support continued delivery of services at this time:
- To ensure timely document processing, please encourage students to submit documents and correspondence through their StudentAid BC dashboard account or by email to StudentAidBC@gov.bc.ca(excluding documents requiring an ink signature).
- At this time, an exceptionhas been made to accept Part-Time Applications via document upload or email.
- Many institutions are moving toward online delivery of programs to comply with public health directives. StudentAid BC will support these measures through the following changes:
- For Program Year 2019/20 (ending July 31, 2020), existing programs moving from on site to online delivery do not require a Confirmation of Distance Education Eligibility (CODEE) form and institutions do not need to notify StudentAid BC of these changes but must ensure compliance with their regulator.
- StudentAid BC will waive online distance policy requirements for new programs for the remainder of the program year, if all other program eligibility requirements are met. However, to notify StudentAid BC of the new online program, please submit a CODEE.
- Online programs submitted for the 2020/21 Program Year will be assessed based on the current Online Program Policy.
National Student Loans Service Centre Service Disruption
- StudentAid BC is working with the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) to address a temporary NSLSC systems outage that has affected disbursements. This outage resulted in disbursements being temporarily halted.
- NSLSC is working on this issue and we will provide regular updates on this matter until the issue is resolved.
- We will provide further updates as required.
Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training
