A year before the beginning of her studies at Algonquin College, Andrea Ndikumasabo moved from Gatineau to Ottawa in order to qualify for a loan from OSAP.
The difficulties to get a small loan from Quebec Loans and Bursaries Program, that barely pays the minimum expenses; makes students consider moving to Ottawa to get a bigger loan from OSAP. One of those students was Ndikumasabo, who did not want to go through the long process to get a loan from the Quebec Loans and Bursaries Program.
“I did the Quebec government loan application once when I was at Heritage College and it took them months to process it,” Ndikumasabo said.
Another student from Quebec is Jessica Sanchez. She suffered from stress because she wasn’t sure if she was eligible for the loan and if it will be enough to cover all of her expenses. At the same time, she can’t move to Ottawa and take a year off studying just to be eligible for OSAP.
“We’re experiencing a high volume of calls at the moment, try calling us at another time,” is all that Jessica Sanchez hears every time she calls Client Services for Quebec Loans and Bursaries Program.
“They don’t even put me on hold. The line just hangs up after that sentence,” Sanchez said.
On the other hand and on the other side of the Ottawa River, there’s OSAP, which takes a few weeks to process.
Even more, it gives bigger loans than what Quebec Loans and Bursaries Program gives. Another big benefit of OSAP is grant money that Ontario students keep for themselves; where Quebec students have to give all the money back to the government. Grant money should
“If I live in Gatineau I would move to Ottawa just for the grant money,” Maryam Ali said, a student who lives in Ottawa and receives OSAP.