Financial Assistance for UofT Or McGill Dental Students from a Low-Income Family

[Orange1108]

For current dental students that are attending UofT or McGill that come from a low-income household I was wondering if you would be open to sharing your experience at your respective school and if there are a lot of bursaries/grants/scholarships available to you? I come from a low-income household and will be attending either uoft or mcgill for this upcoming year and I am a bit nervous about the financial side of things as dental school is quite expensive. I would love to learn more about the financial aid that is available to low-income students as I cant find a lot of information on the website and many of the awards do not disclose the $ amount that is given. Feel free to also privately DM me if that makes you more comfortable!

[dentistrydmd]

Government Loans/Bursaries (ie. OSAP) combined with Line of Credit (banks provide $350,000) will help pay for your education. McGill is comparatively much cheaper, so I wouldn't worry. U of T you may get close to maxing out your LOC especially with the high current interest rates, so you may need additional funds beyond the LOC.

Both schools should have some minor scholarships for financial assistance, but this will likely not make or break you.

[Orange1108]

By minor - roughly how much would that be? Because I know western gives out about 13k a year to students with low income. Would this be around the same amount for uoft/mcgill or significantly less?

[dentistrydmd]

Probably less than 13k (probably on the order of a few thousand per year) but I think you would need to contact the administrative offices for that information. Keep in mind U of T and McGill have large endowments, so there’s probably more leeway in unique financial circumstances.
 

OSAP gives some student loans so that will help a fair amount as well. It would also be zero interest during the duration of studies, so there’s that benefit as well versus the Line of Credit loans.