Research scholarships get all the attention, and almost nobody wins one. The money that actually keeps most Canadian graduate students enrolled is government student aid: the Ontario Student Assistance Program in Ontario, and the Programme de prêts et bourses run by Aide financière aux études in Quebec. The two programs are built on different logics, and both changed for 2026–27. This page sets out what each one publishes, with the figures taken from the government’s own pages and brochure rather than from a summary.
Two cautions before the numbers. Every figure below is what the issuing government publishes for its own program; neither government publishes a simple “you will receive X” amount, because both calculate aid from your individual circumstances. And where one page says less than another, this article says so rather than filling the gap.
The one change every Ontario applicant needs to know
Ontario announced changes to the provincial portion of OSAP on 12 February 2026, and they take effect for programs that start on or after 1 August 2026. In the ministry’s own words, the key changes mean that:
- “students will receive more of their provincial OSAP funding as loans rather than grants”;
- “students attending publicly assisted colleges and universities in Ontario and Canada, and private institutions in Ontario, will receive a larger share of their provincial OSAP funding as loans”;
- “students enrolled in career colleges will receive all of their provincial OSAP funding as loans”.
If you started a master’s or doctoral program before 1 August 2026 and are continuing, and if you are relying on a grant-heavy estimate you were given in an earlier year, re-run the estimate. The ministry states that information about how the changes affect your estimate is available through the 2026–2027 application itself.
Note what the change is and is not. It is a shift in the provincial share between grant and loan. It is not a cut to the total amount for which you may be assessed, and the federal portion is a separate calculation. But for a thesis student, converting grant to loan is not a neutral accounting change: it is money you now repay.
How OSAP is built
OSAP offers two things: grants, which the ministry defines as “money you don’t have to pay back”, and a student loan, “money you need to repay once you’re done school”. You do not choose between them at application — one application considers you for both automatically — and a full-time or part-time student can decline the loan after the application is approved.
The limit that matters to doctoral students. OSAP has a lifetime cap on weeks of funding: 340 weeks in general, 400 weeks for doctoral studies, and up to 520 weeks for students with disabilities. Undergraduate study counts toward that total. A student who used a full four years of undergraduate funding and then a two-year master’s arrives at a doctorate with a meaningful share of the 400 weeks already spent, and there is no mechanism for getting them back.
OSAP also names who is not eligible, and two entries catch graduate students out: international students, and anyone who is not a resident of Ontario. Residency, not where you study, is the test.
OSAP deadlines, which are not the dates you expect
OSAP deadlines run backwards from the end of your study period, not forwards from its start. The ministry’s published rule:
| Your situation | Apply no later than |
|---|---|
| All full-time students, and part-time students with study periods of 21 weeks or more | 60 days before the end of your study period |
| Part-time students with study periods of 20 weeks or less | 40 days before the end of your study period |
| Students in micro-credential programs | The end of your study period |
Two practical consequences. First, you can apply after your term has begun and still be inside the deadline — a fact that saves students who only realise in October that they need help. Second, the deadline is not the planning date. Ontario states that once your application is submitted and all required documents are received, it “usually takes about 4 to 6 weeks to hear back”. Applying 61 days before the end of a term technically meets the deadline and still leaves you unfunded through the term you needed funding for.
One more Ontario route that graduate students often miss: the Student Access Guarantee. If you attend a public postsecondary institution in Ontario as a full-time student, and OSAP does not cover your program costs, your school may provide additional aid as a bursary or scholarship under a partnership with the ministry. It is administered by the institution, so the ask goes to your university’s financial aid office, not to OSAP.
Quebec: a different machine entirely
Quebec runs its own program — the Programme de prêts et bourses, administered by Aide financière aux études — and students resident in Quebec use it instead of OSAP. Its 2026–27 award year runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, and AFE states that applications can usually be completed from May in anticipation of the coming school year. The 2026–2027 application is open now.
Eligibility rests on six conditions, published as a list: Canadian citizenship, permanent residence or refugee or protected-person status; being considered a resident of Quebec; enrolment in a recognised institution and program; full-time study or being deemed to be studying full time; staying within your période d’admissibilité, the number of months for which you can receive aid; and staying within your limite d’endettement, the maximum loan you can accumulate.
Those last two are the levers that decide a graduate student’s outcome, and unlike Ontario, Quebec publishes them as a table by level of study.
The Quebec numbers for master’s and doctoral students, 2026–27
These come from the official AFE brochure Une aide à votre portée for autumn 2026 / winter and summer 2027, legal deposit June 2026.
Eligibility periods. Aid is available for a set number of months, and the bursary portion stops earlier than the loan portion:
| Level | Loan | Bursary |
|---|---|---|
| University, first cycle (undergraduate) | 39 months | the first 30 months |
| University, second cycle (master’s) | 31 months | the first 22 months |
| University, third cycle (doctorate) | 47 months | the first 38 months |
Read that second column carefully, because it is the single most consequential fact in this article for a Quebec graduate student. At the master’s level the bursary stops after 22 months. A student who takes 30 months to finish a mémoire — which is entirely ordinary — receives the last eight months as loan only. The brochure states the rule plainly: eligibility for the bursary ceases as soon as the number of bursary-eligible months is reached, and aid is then paid as a loan only.
There is also a ceiling across all university study: a maximum of 88 months of aid for university education, all cycles combined.
Debt ceilings. The limite d’endettement is the maximum loan you can accumulate, and it rises with the level and the expected length of the program:
| Program | Ceiling |
|---|---|
| First cycle, expected duration under 28 months | $30,000 |
| First cycle, 28 months or more | $36,000 |
| Second cycle, expected duration under 20 months | $42,000 |
| Second cycle, 20 months or more | $48,000 |
| Third cycle, all programs | $55,000 |
| Any cycle, studies outside Quebec but within Canada | $55,000 |
| Any cycle, studies outside Canada | $70,000 |
What the calculation recognises. Recognised tuition charged by the institution is capped at $6,000 per study period. Living costs are set at $663 per month of study if you live with your parents and $1,416 per month if you do not. Living costs are reduced by $100 a month if you drop courses, and by $200 a month if you drop all of them and return the following period.
The graduate-specific line worth knowing. The book and materials allowance is $511 per study period for university students generally — but it rises to $585 for a list of named programs and, explicitly, for “second or third cycle programs when the term is devoted to writing a mémoire or a thèse.” A writing-only term is recognised in the calculation rather than penalised, which is not obvious and which students in writing-up terms routinely fail to claim.
The two programs compared
| Ontario (OSAP) | Quebec (Prêts et bourses) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is eligible | Residents of Ontario; international students excluded | Residents of Quebec with citizenship, PR, refugee or protected status |
| Award year | 2026–2027 application open | 1 September 2026 – 31 August 2027 |
| Grant/loan mix | Both, assessed together; provincial share shifted toward loans from 1 August 2026 | Both; the bursary portion ends at a fixed month count, then loan only |
| Time limit | 340 weeks lifetime, 400 for doctoral studies | 31 months (master’s) and 47 (doctorate); 88 months maximum across all university cycles |
| Debt ceiling published? | Not stated on the pages read | Yes, by cycle and program length |
| Deadline | 60 days before the end of the study period for full-time students | Application usually available from May; no equivalent backward deadline published on the pages read |
| Institutional top-up | Student Access Guarantee, via your university | Not covered on the pages read |
The structural difference is worth naming. Ontario caps your time and calculates the money; Quebec caps both your time and your debt, and publishes both ceilings up front. A Quebec doctoral student can see the $55,000 wall from the beginning. An Ontario doctoral student sees a 400-week wall instead.
What this means for your thesis timeline
Both programs turn your completion date into a financial quantity, which is a fact most students discover a year too late. Two planning consequences follow.
First, know which month your bursary or your funding weeks run out, and put that date in the same calendar as your defence target. In Quebec the master’s bursary stops at month 22; in Ontario the doctoral cap is 400 weeks minus everything already used. Whether you are enrolled in a thesis, a dissertation or a major research paper changes that arithmetic, because the expected durations differ and Quebec’s debt ceiling is set from the program’s expected duration.
Second, the term you spend writing is a funded term, and it has its own rules — the Quebec materials allowance for a writing-up term being the clearest example. Plan the write-up as a term, not as an overrun. The chapter architecture that makes that possible is set out in the introduction chapter guide and the problem statement examples, and the submission requirements that can cost you an extra term are in the thesis format guide and the Waterloo requirements guide.
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Frequently asked questions
Can graduate students get OSAP?
Yes. OSAP does not restrict itself to undergraduates, and it publishes a separate lifetime limit of 400 weeks for doctoral studies against the general 340. Eligibility turns on Ontario residency and status, not on your level of study.
What changed about OSAP in 2026?
Changes to the provincial portion announced on 12 February 2026 take effect for programs starting on or after 1 August 2026. More of the provincial funding is issued as loan rather than grant, with the largest change for career college students, who receive all of the provincial portion as loans.
When is the OSAP deadline?
For full-time students, no later than 60 days before the end of your study period; 40 days for part-time students with study periods of 20 weeks or less. Because processing takes about four to six weeks, applying at the deadline is not the same as being funded during the term.
How long does OSAP take to process?
Ontario states about four to six weeks from the point at which your application and all required documents have been received.
Can I get OSAP if I am an international student?
No. International students are listed among those who are not eligible, as are people who are not residents of Ontario.
How much can I borrow in Quebec for a master’s?
The debt ceiling is $42,000 for a second-cycle program with an expected duration under 20 months and $48,000 for one of 20 months or more. Doctoral programs are capped at $55,000.
How many months of Quebec aid do I get for a master’s?
31 months of loan, with bursary limited to the first 22. After month 22 the aid continues as loan only.
Does Quebec recognise a term spent writing my mémoire?
Yes. The materials allowance rises to $585 for a second- or third-cycle term devoted to writing a mémoire or thèse, against the $511 standard university rate.
How much tuition does Quebec recognise?
Recognised tuition charged by the institution is limited to $6,000 per study period in the calculation of your admitted expenses.
Can I apply to both OSAP and Quebec aid?
No. Each program is for residents of its own province, and both make residency an eligibility condition. Which one applies to you is determined by residency, not by where your university is.
Does government student aid affect my research scholarships?
It can, because both programs assess your resources. Report scholarship income as each program requires and check the interaction before assuming the two simply add together.