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Home > Did You Know? > Recovering a Financial Assistance Overpayment

Loan portion of the financial assistance

Upon receiving your application for financial assistance, Aide financière aux études (AFE) generates a Financial Assistance Statement that informs you of the amount of assistance to be awarded to you. This document also indicates the portion of assistance corresponding to your loan and, if applicable, the portion corresponding to your bursary. It also indicates the breakdown of the instalments to which you will be entitled.

Moreover, the amount of assistance awarded to you for the year is reassessed at the end of the school year on the basis of the income you reported in your application for financial assistance. This income is verified against the income you reported to Revenu Québec. If applicable, AFE caries out a new assessment following this verification and informs you of the outcome of this assessment.

If, following this reassessment, the financial assistance amount is lower than that previously established, the expected amounts that have yet to be issued for the award year will be reassessed. If the amount of assistance already awarded to you exceeds the new amount assessed, the excess amount will then be considered an overpayment.

Please note that only the amount in excess of the loan portion of the financial assistance granted for the award year is considered an overpayment.

The financial assistance overpayment will be recovered by withholding instalments normally to be awarded during the year or during subsequent years.

Bursary portion of the financial assistance

Following the verification of your income with Revenu Québec, AFE repays your financial institution the portion of you loan corresponding to the bursary to which you are entitled. This amount will contribute to the reduction of your student loan debt. This is known as a loan-to-bursary conversion.

If AFE carries out a new assessment following the loan-to-bursary conversion and the amount awarded in the form of a bursary is lower than that previously established, the bursary overpayment will be recovered in full.

If you are pursuing your studies, the bursary overpayment will be recovered during the year or during subsequent years by withholding certain amounts from the monthly instalments to which you may be entitled and by withholding the amount obtained after the loan-to-bursary conversion carried out at the end of the year.

The amount obtained from the conversion of a portion of the loan into a bursary may be applied in full against the repayment of the bursary overpayment. The bursary overpayment amount may sometimes be higher than that obtained following the loan-to-bursary conversion. If this is the case, the bursary overpayment that could not be recovered during the current year will be recovered in subsequent years, by withholding any bursary amount obtained following the conversion of a portion of the loan into a bursary.

Please note that you may repay a bursary overpayment at any time by contacting AFE's debt collection department, the Service du recouvrement.

Financial assistance overpayment of $1 000 or less (loan portion of the financial assistance)

If the financial assistance overpayment is of $1 000 or less, then the amount overpaid will not be recovered. However, this amount becomes part of your student loan debt and must be repaid once you complete your studies.

Financial assistance overpayment greater than $1 000 (loan portion of the financial assistance)

If the financial assistance overpayment is greater than $1 000, then the amount overpaid will be recovered by withholding certain amounts from the instalments to be awarded to you during the year or during subsequent years. Refer to the following table to find out how the amounts will be withheld. You may also consult your Financial Assistance Statement, which provides the new instalment breakdown.

How the amounts are withheld
Amount to be withheld	Number of award years involved
$2 000 or less	1 year
From $2 001 to $4 000	2 years ($2 000 withheld as of the first year)
From $4 001 to $6 000	3 years ($2 000 withheld the first year and $2 000 withheld the second year)
$6 001 or more	3 years ($2 000 withheld the first year and $2 000 withheld the second year)

Please note that a financial assistance overpayment issued in the form of a loan becomes part of your student loan debt. If you stop studying, you must repay your student loan debt to your financial institution, including the amount overpaid. If you resume your studies after the partial exemption period, no financial assistance overpayment will be taken into account thereafter.

Bursary overpayment of $1 000 or less

A bursary overpayment of $1 000 or less will not be recovered by withholding certain amounts from your monthly financial assistance instalments. The amount will instead be recovered at the end of the school year from the bursary portion of the financial assistance awarded to you. This amount will then be part of your student loan debt because no amounts will have been withheld from your financial assistance instalments.

Bursary overpayment greater than $1 000

If the bursary overpayment is greater than $1 000, then the amount overpaid will be recovered by withholding certain amounts from the instalments to be awarded to you during the year or during subsequent years (i.e. if you are pursuing your studies). At the end of the school year, the bursary overpayment will be recovered from the bursary portion of the financial assistance awarded to you. Refer to the following table to find out how the amounts will be withheld. You may also consult your Financial Assistance Statement, which provides the new instalment breakdown.

The amounts withheld from each of your monthly instalments may be withheld over a period of more than one award year. In addition, the amounts withheld cannot exceedthe amount corresponding to the bursary as indicated on your Financial Assistance Statement.

How the amounts are withheld
Amount to be withheld	Number of award years involved
$2 000 or less	1 year
From $2 001 to $4 000	2 years ($2 000 withheld as of the first year)
From $4 001 to $6 000	3 years ($2 000 withheld the first year and $2 000 withheld the second year)
$6 000 or more	3 years (the amount owed is divided equally among these years)

If a bursary overpayment has been repaid in full and a bursary amount has yet to be paid, this amount will be sent to your financial institution as expected and will contribute to the reduction of your student loan debt.

Please remember that any portion of a bursary overpayment that has not been recovered by withholding amounts from your financial assistance instalments becomes part of your student loan debt. Moreover, if you complete your studies before repaying your bursary overpayment in full, you will have to repay the balance directly to AFE. Interest charges will accrue on your student loan debt as of the month following the end of your studies.

You will then have to work out a repayment agreement with an officer of AFE's debt collection department, the Service du recouvrement.