Canada Student Loan forgiveness for family doctors and nurses - Eligibility
Eligibility
You can apply for Canada Student Loan forgiveness while you are in study. You can also apply if you are in repayment or in your 6 month non-repayment period.
To be eligible for loan forgiveness you must:
- have been employed for a full year and provided in-person services for a minimum of 400 hours in an eligible community (does not apply to residents in family medicine)
- have a Canada Student Loan that is in good standing (if in repayment, you must be up to date on your payments)
Eligible medical professions
- family doctor
- family medicine resident in training with an accredited medical school in Canada
- registered nurse
- registered psychiatric nurse
- registered practical nurse
- licensed practical nurse, or
- nurse practitioner
Eligible communities
Effective November 6, 2024, the Government of Canada has revised the definition of under-served rural and remote communities.
Eligible communities are determined by their population size. An eligible community is:
- a population centre with a population of no more than 30,000, or
- a rural area
The previous definition will continue to be valid alongside the new definition until after the 2026 census.
Find out if a community is designated by using our postal code lookup tool.
If you continue to work in a community where you received loan forgiveness the previous year, you will still be eligible to receive the benefit, even if the community is no longer considered eligible.
You can work in multiple eligible communities during the year but, you must complete at least 400 hours total of in-person service over a 12-month period. In addition, as long as you continue to work in an eligible community, you can work for multiple employers.
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