I know that OSAP looks for you to have a job over the summer.
But if you dont get one, do they reduce ur amount?

When I did my OSAP estimate, i did it once with my job and once without. in my case, the amount went up - over $3000 - with no job. i debated quitting to get more money, but opted to keep it and not accrue more debt.

In a nutshell, yes they do reduce your amount. However, all depends on the situation and the different variables.

Here's a few threads on it:

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=2230 4
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...highlight=OSAP
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...ight=part-time

Yeah, most people I know who worked had their OSAP amounts reduced, however by how much it drops..THAT depends on financial situation.. outside contributions.. and a ton of other factors

I always say 0 income. If you make under 5k a summer just say you didnt work.
Once my friend said she made 500$ one summer and ger loan went down.. so lame.

You would think that the government of Ontario realizes that we work for a reason, so we have classes to go to and food to eat - so that we can add more to what we get, not to just reduce it and spend hours working for nothing.

Originally Posted by Katia

I always say 0 income. If you make under 5k a summer just say you didnt work.
Once my friend said she made 500$ one summer and ger loan went down.. so lame.

hey.. just a question.. will osap people find out about that though and not let you take a loan from them in the future?

Lying about your income doesn't sound like a good idea. You should probably state what you make /expect to make in those forms. You did sign a contract after all.

Lying on your OSAP forms is very dangerous. It's not too hard for them to find out the truth, and you can get in a lot of trouble if you're caught. You will most likely never be allowed to get that kind of financial assistance ever again.

Originally Posted by Katia

I always say 0 income. If you make under 5k a summer just say you didnt work.
Once my friend said she made 500$ one summer and ger loan went down.. so lame.

OSAP checks your reported income with the Canada Revenue Agancy to make sure you're not lying or hiding any significant income. If you're off by only a little bit, they generally won't care (because most of your numbers on the OSAP application are estimates anyways) but if they check and find that you're hiding thousands of dollars worth of income then you're in big trouble. You could be forced to pay back ALL of your loan money on the spot and taken to court. Furthermore, (if you survive all of this finanacial trouble) then you will never be allowed to take out government loans again. You could also be charged with fraud.

The papers that you sign when you fill out the OSAP form authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to release all of your financial information to the Ministry.

Lying = bad news. I wouldn't want to be caught in this situation.

P.S: You vs the government = you lose.

so they dont deduct anything for not making any money over summer?

i'm not sure where everyone is getting their information from, but OSAP actually assumes you make approximately $4400.00 during the summer. That means that whatever amount you are entitled to, whether you work or not, they assume you work $4400 a year. Now if you do work, as long as you make less than that amount, it will NOT affect your funding. Anything more will, without a doubt.

I got this straight from the financial aid office representatives, and I'm currently witnessing it for my next year funding. Last year i made around $3000 in the summer and got full OSAP ($11500). this year, i'm going to make around $3500, and i'm actually getting more funding, thus proving that the summer earnings under $4400 do not affect your funding. I'm getting more due to my father's income and the fact that my tuition is costing more this year.

hope this helps!

Don't forget that you're also responsible to report if you get a new job during the school year and are earning extra money. This is most likely why they do two installments of OSAP release during the year, in case anything changes.

I actually got a job halfway through first semester and I was so tempted not to let them know, but lying is never good. I was only getting a small amount to begin with, but my cousin, who didn't know (so this is by accident) that he had to report a new job during the year actually got barred from receiving OSAP the following year. Serious stuff folks!

Originally Posted by myoozik

Don't forget that you're also responsible to report if you get a new job during the school year and are earning extra money. This is most likely why they do two installments of OSAP release during the year, in case anything changes.

I actually got a job halfway through first semester and I was so tempted not to let them know, but lying is never good. I was only getting a small amount to begin with, but my cousin, who didn't know (so this is by accident) that he had to report a new job during the year actually got barred from receiving OSAP the following year. Serious stuff folks!

That's so sad :(! Best to read all the conditions and such now.. just to know what you should/shouldn't do in the future.

I dont know, I'm in 4th year now, never got in trouble or what not.
I dont need OSAP much, I just put it in the bank to get interest, so no big deal if they cancel it.
However I havent done taxes in the past 3 years so they don't know how much I make.
When my friend said her dads income was llower than it actually is, they just called her in to let her know she made a mistake. Its not a big deal really,