Order Fixing the Day After the Day on Which This Order Is Made as the Day on Which Division 4 of Part 4 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 Comes into Force: SI/2025-128
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 27
Registration
SI/2025-128 December 31, 2025
BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2024, NO. 1
Order Fixing the Day After the Day on Which This Order Is Made as the Day on Which Division 4 of Part 4 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 Comes into Force
P.C. 2025-922 December 11, 2025
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Employment and Social Development, under section 161 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, chapter 17 of the Statutes of Canada, 2024, fixes the day after the day on which this Order is made as the day on which Division 4 of Part 4 of that Act comes into force.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order.)
Proposal
This Order in Council, pursuant to section 161 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, fixes the day after the day on which the Order is made as the day on which Division 4 of Part 4 of that Act comes into force to amend the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act.
Objective
The objective of this Order is to bring into force amendments to the Canada Student Loans Act and the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act that will expand the list of occupations which are eligible for the Canada Student Loan (loan) forgiveness benefit.
Background
The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program (the Program) provides eligible students with loans to help them pay for post-secondary education at designated colleges, universities, or other post-secondary institutions. The Government of Canada currently offers loan forgiveness to family physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners who work in an under-served rural or remote community. This measure was implemented in 2013 to complement existing federal and provincial/territorial efforts to address the complex issue of health care worker shortages in rural and remote communities. To receive the loan forgiveness benefit, a borrower must have worked in an “under-served rural or remote community” as a family physician or nurse and have provided in-person services for a minimum of 400 hours in an eligible community during the previous 12 months. Borrowers must apply for the loan forgiveness benefit no later than 90 days after the end of their 12-month service period.
On April 16, 2024, Budget 2024 announced the expansion of the loan forgiveness benefit to additional health care and social services professionals working in under-served rural and remote communities. This change will expand the list of occupations eligible for the loan forgiveness benefit to the following 10 occupations: early childhood educators, dentists, dental hygienists, pharmacists, midwives, teachers, social workers, personal support workers, physiotherapists and psychologists.
As the occupations eligible for loan forgiveness are set out in the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act, amendments to both acts were included as part of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, which received royal assent on June 20, 2024.
To prescribe eligibility criteria for the additional occupational groups, changes to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations and the Canada Student Loans Regulations are also required.
Implications
The changes to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act will expand loan forgiveness eligibility to early childhood educators, dentists, dental hygienists, pharmacists, midwives, teachers, social workers, personal support workers, physiotherapists and psychologists. This expansion is expected to directly benefit about 7 968 federal student loan borrowers in the first year of implementation (2025–2026) and up to about 19 025 borrowers per year by 2034–2035. Among these beneficiaries, it is estimated that in 2025–2026, about 2 841 federal student loan borrowers will have relocated to these under-served rural or remote communities, specifically because of the loan forgiveness benefit, increasing to about 3 024 by 2034–2035. This expansion is expected to incentivize a total of 27 822 federal student loan borrowers who are health care and social services providers over 10 years. By increasing the number of health care and social service providers working in under-served rural or remote communities, these legislative amendments are expected to help ensure that Canadians living in these communities can access the health care and social services they need.
The associated regulatory amendments, which outline the loan forgiveness benefit eligibility criteria for the new occupations, will come into force upon their publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II, shortly after this Order is made.
Consultation
In 2022, the Program held consultations and circulated a questionnaire with key stakeholders (including student associations, student financial aid administrators, provincial/territorial health ministries with the support of Health Canada, health-oriented Indigenous stakeholders, remote community educational institutions, and other professional associations) relating to potential enhancements to the loan forgiveness benefit. Stakeholders were supportive of adding more occupations to the eligibility list for the loan forgiveness benefit. In response to the survey questions on shortages in professions outside of health care and additional urgently needed health care professions in order of priority, respondents recommended and ranked 44 professions to be eligible for the loan forgiveness benefit. The top 5 occupations recommended for eligibility for the loan forgiveness benefit were social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, dentists, and dental hygienists, all of which were included in the legislative amendments.
Contact
Erin Hetherington
Director
Program Policy
Canada Student Financial Assistance Program
Employment and Social Development Canada
Email: EDSC.DGA.PCAFE.MCPP-SEC.CSFAP.LB.ESDC@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca