Parental Contribution
If you are a single dependent student, your parents
are expected to contribute to your education, based on their
discretionary income. Under program criteria, their discretionary
income is their combined income in the last complete taxation
year, after deductions for income tax, Canada Pension Plan,
Employment Insurance and a moderate standard of living, based
on family size. Parents, their dependent children (including
the student applying for student assistance) and any wholly
dependent persons living in the household are counted in determining
family size.
For the purposes of determining family size in assessing the
parental contribution, a dependent child is:
- a child, including an adopted child, a step-child or a
wholly dependent person;
- 18 years or younger;
- wholly dependent on you or your spouse for support; and
- in the custody and control of you or your spouse.
A child over the age of 18 is also considered dependent if
they:
- have never been married or lived in a long-term common-law
relationship (at least 12 months); and
- do not have any dependent children; and
- have not been out of secondary school for four years (48
months) or more; and
- have not been in the workforce for two periods of 12 consecutive
months.
You may consider a person wholly dependent on you if the person
resides with you, is related to you, and is either 18 years
of age or younger or is dependent by reason of a mental or
physical infirmity. To prove dependency, Canada Revenue Agency
must have accepted the person as wholly dependent on you, or
you must provide proof of legal guardianship.
If parents have two or more dependent children applying for
the PTA, or other dependants in post-secondary school the contribution
is divided by the number of children to determine the contribution
for each child.
In situations where a scholarship trust fund has been established
for the dependent client, the parental contribution is the
greater of the amount assessed under these procedures and the
amount available from the trust fund.
The parental contribution can be adjusted if the parent's
income changes or if there are exceptional expenses (i.e. funeral
expenses, medical/dental/optical costs, etc.). |
