Education costs

The Career Paths for Skilled Immigrants program can help you find skilled employment in BC. You can get help to build an action plan, get workplace experience, and receive financial support to help you upgrade.

If you are a current or former BC youth in care and you are a student, you may be able to get grants of up to $3,500 per program year.

If you are a current or former BC youth in care and you are a student, you may be able to have your tuition and eligible fees waived.

Eligible young adults with care experience can receive Unconditional Income Support of up to $1,250 per month from age 19 to 20 to assist with living expenses, improve financial stability and prevent the experience of homelessness. This monthly assistance can be continued up until age 27 through Conditional Income Support if the young adult is enrolled in one or a combination of post-secondary, vocational, life-skills, rehabilitative or cultural programming.

Eligible young adults with care experience who are focused on developing and/or participating in life-skills programs, pursuing post-secondary education not covered by the Provincial Tuition Waiver Program (PTWP), training or cultural learning, or a combination of the above, can access up to $11,000 in additional funding up to their 27th birthday to support the pursuit of their goals.

Eligible youth and young adults aged 14 to 25 can access transition planning support by a SAJE Navigator, a SAJE Guide, or a similar role available through Indigenous Child and Family Service (ICFS) agencies. These workers assist young people with exploring their hopes and dreams for the future and making a plan for transitioning into adulthood.

A School Start-Up Supplement is provided to recipients of income assistance, disability assistance and hardship assistance to assist with extra costs associated with schooling for a person under 19 years of age.

If you’ve been in foster care or in a comparable arrangement under Indigenous law, you may qualify for the Strengthening Abilities and Journeys of Empowerment (SAJE) program to help cover the cost of things like housing, childcare, tuition and health care while you go to school or do job training, or attend rehabilitation, mental health, or life skills programs.

This program contributes funding to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP).

If you are 18 to 20 years old and you have not yet gotten the Canada Learning Bond (for example if your parents did not apply for you), you may be able to get up to $2,000 to help pay for the costs of your studies after high school. You do not have to spend this money right away.

This grant helps students with disabilities pay for each year of school.

The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program offers student grants and loans to full-time and part-time students. Grants and loans help students pay for your post-secondary education.

The repayment assistance plan can help you repay your student loan if you are having financial difficulty and cannot make your payments.

If you have a disability and are having difficulty paying your student loan, you may be eligible for the Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with Disabilities (RAP-D).