Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 154, Number 6: Regulations Amending the Canada Student Loans Regulations
February 8, 2020
Statutory authority
Canada Student Loans Act
Sponsoring department
Department of Employment and Social Development
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
For the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement, see the Regulations Amending the Canada Student Loans Regulations.
PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT
Notice is given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 11 footnote a of the Canada Student Loans Act footnote b, proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Canada Student Loans Regulations.
Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Milena Gulia, Director, Policy and Research, Canada Student Loans Program, Employment and Social Development Canada, 200 Montcalm Street, Tower II, 1st Floor, Gatineau, Quebec, J8Y 3B5 (email: EDSC.PCPE.MED.PAR.REG-MED.PAR.REG.CSLP.ESDC@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca).
Ottawa, January 30, 2020
Julie Adair
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council
Regulations Amending the Canada Student Loans Regulations
Amendments
1 The Canada Student Loans Regulations footnote 1 are amended by adding the following after section 3:
Medical Leave and Parental Leave
4 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.
- medical leave means a leave from studies taken by a borrower as a result of a medical problem that, in the opinion of a medical professional, would significantly interfere with the borrower’s ability to pursue their program of studies. (congé pour raisons médicales)
- parental leave means a leave from studies taken by a borrower as a result of the birth of a child of the borrower, the adoption of a child by the borrower, or the commencement of the guardianship or tutorship of a child by the borrower. (congé parental)
- period of postponement of repayment means the period during which, by reason of a medical leave or parental leave, a borrower is not required to repay the principal amount of a guaranteed student loan and no interest is payable. (différé de remboursement)
(2) The Minister may, on application, grant a borrower a period of postponement of repayment by reason of a medical leave or a parental leave, if the borrower submits the application in the form and manner specified by the Minister in the six months following the end of the borrower’s most recent period of studies, but no later than 12 months after
- (a) in the case of a medical leave, the date specified by the medical professional; or
- (b) in the case of a parental leave, the date of the birth or adoption of a child or the date the borrower becomes the guardian or tutor of a child.
(3) If the Minister grants the borrower’s application, the borrower is deemed to continue to be a full-time student despite section 4.1 for a six-month period beginning on the day after the day on which they would otherwise have ceased to be a full-time student.
(4) If the borrower’s medical leave or parental leave must be extended or the borrower is entitled to a new medical leave or a new parental leave, the borrower may, no earlier than 30 days before the end of the six-month period referred to in subsection (3) and no later than 30 days after that period, submit a request to the Minister to extend the length of the period of postponement of repayment to 12 months.
(5) If the borrower’s medical leave or parental leave must be further extended or the borrower is entitled to a new medical leave or a new parental leave, the borrower may, no earlier than 30 days before the end of the 12-month period referred to in subsection (4) and no later than 30 days after that period, submit a request to the Minister to extend the length of the period of postponement of repayment to 18 months.
(6) A borrower who has been granted a period of postponement of repayment cannot submit a new application for a period of postponement of repayment by reason of a new medical leave or a new parental leave for 30 days after the first day of the current confirmed period.
2 The portion of subsection 4.1(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
4.1 (1) Subject to paragraph 3(2)(b) and subsection 4(3), a borrower ceases to be a full-time student on the earliest of
3 Subsection 9(10) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
(10) For the purposes of subsection (9), the number of weeks is the aggregate of the number of weeks corresponding to the borrower’s confirmed periods as a full-time student, or the equivalent, under the Act and the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, less the number of weeks determined by the Minister for which the specified educational institution has provided that the borrower, despite subsections 4(3) and 4.1(2), was no longer a full-time student.
Coming into Force
4 These Regulations come into force on August 1, 2020.