As a Windsor trustee, I met with many people who have outstanding student loans. The first question I ask is “what is your end of study date”. Most people do not know this date. In order to confirm this date, you need to call Canada Student Loans at 1-888-815-4514 and Ontario Student Loans at 1-807-343-7260.

Why is this date important? It is the date that is used to determine whether student loans are discharged with a bankruptcy or consumer proposal. Under the current rule, you have to be out of school for 7 years before your student loans are discharged automatically. It is important to realize that the end of study date may not be the same date that you finished or left school. If you had studies that were not funded with student loans that time period is still considered when determining the end of study date. The Canada Bankruptcy Student Loan blog has more information about student loans.

Just because you have student loans that won’t be discharged by a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal doesn’t always mean you don’t have options. It’s important to call me at 310-PLAN and we can review your situation in detail