Who are the persons involved?
The class action judgment applies to all student borrowers, or Members, as defined by the Court (see below) who contracted their last student loan with their financial institution pursuant to the Act prior to June 30, 1997 or prior to April 30, 1998 and who completed or abandoned their studies after these dates.
Members should have benefited, according to their Student Loan Contracts, from an interest exemption period. Members were to pay no interest during the time they were pursuing their studies and for six or seven months (depending on the date of their contract) after they completed or abandoned their studies. The Court has defined the Members of the group as follows:
Sub-Group A
"All students who on June 30, 1997 had obtained one or more student loans after signing a Loan Certificate issued by the Direction générale de l'aide finacière aux étudiants and who did not obtain other student loans after June 30, 1997, and completed or abandonned their studies after June 30, 1997"
Sub-Group B
"All students who on April 30, 1998 had obtained one or more student loans after signing a Loan Certificate issued by the Direction générale de l'aide finacière aux étudiants and who did not obtain other student loans after April 30, 1998, and completed or abandoned their studies after April 30, 1998."
The right of Members to file a claim for the refund of interest charged contrary to the provisions of their Student Loan Contract is not affected by:
- The fact that their student loan has been reimbursed, in whole or in part;
- The fact that their student loan has been converted into a personal loan by their financial institution; or
- The fact that Members may have defaulted on their loan (in such a case, the defaulting Member will obtain a credit for the overcharged interest).
The estate of a deceased Member may also file a claim by communicating with the Aide financière aux études at 1 (418) 646-3979 or at 1 (866) 584-3979