Emergency Loan

The Emergency Loan program provides immediate funding support for temporary financial shortfalls such as the inability to pay for essential living expenses (e.g., rent or groceries) or unexpected expenses (e.g., emergency health costs or dental work). Emergency loans are not issued to pay for any university tuition/fees or debt of any kind (lines of credit, credit cards, etc).

In order to qualify for an Emergency Loan, you must demonstrate the ability to repay the loan. Your repayment timeline will be based on your registration and the details of your repayment plan (up to a maximum of six months). Your emergency financial situation will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and approval is not guaranteed. If your financial shortfall is not temporary or short-term, we encourage you to explore the Supplementary Bursary program for non-repayable funding support.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to qualify for an Emergency Loan, you must:

• Be an undergraduate or graduate student currently attending classes at the University of Alberta at the time of your application.
• Have satisfactory academic standing or greater based on your most recent term grades (for most programs, this is a 2.0 GPA or higher).
• Be able to demonstrate your ability to repay the loan; repayment deadlines will be based on your registration and/or repayment plan up to a maximum of 6 months.
• Be able to demonstrate that you are facing urgent financial issues unrelated to tuition or other university costs. Emergency loans are not issued to pay for any university tuition/fees or debt of any kind (lines of credit, credit cards, etc).

How to Apply

1. Go to the Application for Financial Support page and log in using your Campus Computing ID (CCID) and password.
2. Complete and submit the Emergency Loan application.
3. An advisor will review your Emergency Loan application and assess your financial situation within three business days. Please monitor your application in the portal, as your application will be re-opened if additional information is needed.

Receiving Your Funds

If your application is approved, your Emergency Loan funds will be sent via Interac e-transfer along with an exclusive PIN by the end of the next business day. Funds can only be sent to University of Alberta email addresses.

If you have any complications with accepting your Interac e-transfer, please reach out to bursaries@ualberta.ca.

How to Make Payments

Payments can only be made online at this time. The following banks can be used for online payments: ATB, BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, Servus Credit Union, Simplii, and TD Canada Trust.

If your bank is not listed here, please let us know by emailing us (bursaries@ualberta.ca) so that we can contact that bank to set up the University of Alberta (Emergency Loan) bill payment option.

To make payments online, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your bank's website or mobile application.
2. Navigate to the bill payment section (the pathway will be different for each bank). Select the option to add a payee/biller.

3. Search for the University of Alberta Emergency Loan payee option and click on the result; note that each bank has a different variation of this wording/word order.

   The biller name variations can be seen below:

   • ATB: Univ of Alberta Emergency LN
   • BMO: University Of Alberta Emergency Loan
   • CIBC: University Alberta Emergncy LN
   • RBC: Univ Alberta Emergency LN
   • Scotiabank: Univ of Alberta Emergency LN
   • Servus Credit Union: Univ ofAlberta Emergency Ln
   • Simplii: University Alberta Emergncy LN
   • TD: University of Alberta - Emergency Loan Repayment

4. Enter your account number as your 7-digit student ID number plus the first 4 letters of your last name. If your last name is shorter than 4 letters, enter the letters of your last name followed by letters from your first name (up to 4 letters in total).

   Example:

   • Suzy Smith -- 1234567SMIT
   • Suzy Cho -- 1234567CHOS
5. Make a payment.

Note: Other funding paid to your student account (such as government student loans, external funding, scholarships, bursaries, etc.) will not automatically pay off your loan balance.

Repayment expectations and impacts

Loans are expected to be fully repaid by your agreed-upon due date. This ensures that other students are able to benefit from the program. If there is a balance owing on your loan by your due date, a financial hold will be automatically placed on your student account. Financial holds restrict your ability to register in courses and access official documentation such as transcripts or degree parchments. For more information about this policy see the University Calendar ("Overdue Accounts").