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Disabled students in Canada face higher costs for postsecondary education. Here’s a guide to grants, scholarships, and supports that can help ease the burden.
Living with a disability is notoriously expensive. From diagnosis appointments and medical equipment to more hidden costs, like ordering premade food more often or paying more for accessible transit, the disabled life hits you where it hurts—whether that’s with a dose of chronic pain or a shot to your wallet.
Nowhere can that be felt more acutely, in many cases, than in the lives of disabled students.
To even get to post secondary education is an uphill battle for many disabled Canadians. In fact, data from Statistics Canada finds that youth aged 20–24 with disabilities were less likely to be in school than their same-age peers without disabilities. At the same time, more students are working while studying, and disabled students are often at a disadvantage in both areas, facing higher rates of underemployment and lower earnings alongside rising living costs.
Still, there are supports designed to ease some of the burden, giving disabled students more room to focus on completing their studies and preparing for the workforce.
Before looking at federal and provincial programs, it helps to start with the foundation: the skills and planning that can make postsecondary education less financially burdensome for disabled students. Seanna Takacs, PhD, a practice lead faculty member in accessibility services at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and outgoing co-chair of the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS), says that disabled students are often required to understand their financial reality earlier than their peers.
“I think students with disabilities do have to have ways of budgeting younger and sooner and more thoroughly…What does it mean to have an emergency fund? What does it mean to have savings? Those kinds of things, which you wouldn’t emphasize really hard for any other 18 or 19 year old.”
In practice, that means knowing about programs like the Disability Tax Credit or the registered disability savings plan (RDSP). In some cases, it means taking on responsibilities that go beyond typical student budgeting, like coordinating personal care supports, a process that some in the community describe as being your own human resources department. Being a disabled student often also means being keenly aware of what financial supports are on offer from social safety nets and family.
Takacs compares the experience to starting out already weighed down.
“You’re adding rock upon rock upon rock. And for anyone, it can get too heavy. When you’ve got financial stuff in the mix, and when you’re a student with a disability, you’re already starting with a wheelbarrow full of rocks.”
Reducing that burden often begins with understanding federal supports, including the Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment and the Canada Student Grant for Students with Disabilities. These programs can help offset costs not only for services, but also for adaptive equipment. Some common examples include computers, text-to-speech software, magnification tools, noise cancelling headphones and productivity service subscriptions.
But federal grants are only one piece of the picture when it comes to making postsecondary education more affordable for disabled students.
It may seem obvious, but many university students—disabled or not—leave money on the table simply by not applying for scholarships and bursaries. In fact, millions of dollars in scholarships go unclaimed each year. Whatever college or university you choose to attend, it’s worth reviewing what funding opportunities are available, including awards specifically aimed at students with disabilities.
Beyond this, there are also databases and organizations that help students search more broadly. The National Educational Association of Disabled Students, for example, maintains a scholarship database that you can filter by province. In addition, a range of disability-focused non-profits and companies offer targeted awards, including organizations such as Accessible Media Inc., the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Canada, and corporate sponsors like Deloitte Canada.
While the proverbial headlines might go to ever-increasing tuition costs, it can also be valuable for students with disabilities to check in on supports like housing insecurity subsidies, food banks, and other such resources.
Takacs says building this web of support often comes down to knowing where to ask. She points in particular to both financial aid and accessibility offices on campus, noting that staff in these roles can often find funding and resources that are not immediately visible to students. She even describes financial aid staff as “magicians” for their ability to uncover supports that students might not know exist.
This can be especially true for students who have only just started navigating disability identity, or only beginning to understand the range of supports that may be available to them
To use Takacs’ wheelbarrow of rocks analogy, one of the heaviest burdens can be simply staying eligible for the supports you already rely on. Many disability-related programs, including the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), have ongoing eligibility requirements that you must maintain throughout the school year and beyond. Similarly, Canada Student Loans requires you to maintain a minimum course load, which is generally lower for disabled students but doesn’t evaporate entirely. The last thing you need is to have to appeal to the government to keep the funding you need.
At the same time, it’s important to understand what options exist after graduation or in the event that school loan repayment becomes unmanageable. The federal Repayment Assistance Plan – Disability (RAP-D) can reduce or pause loan payments for borrowers whose disability affects their ability to repay. There is also a federal student loan forgiveness program if you have a severe permanent disability that means you cannot obtain “gainful employment.”
Taken together, these programs underscore an important but often overlooked point: financial planning for disabled students doesn’t end at enrolment. It extends through graduation and into repayment.
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