[Gayle5186]

Student loans in Canada are a great option, plus you can most likely qualify for the Millennium scholarship for low income people. Canada student loans generally assumes you'll be living off of about 750 a month for living expenses, which doesn't sound like much but is doable. Here's the site for Manitoba student aid http://www.gov.mb.ca/educate/sfa/pages/sfaFrontDoor_en.html You have to file through whichever province you're a resident of, then part of the money you get is from the province, part from the federal government. I wouldn't go with a bank loan unless you absolutely need it cause you have to make payments on it monthly. At least with the government one's you don't have to start making payments until about six months after you finish you're program. Since you're in Manitoba I'm assuming you're thinking of the university there. You can check their website for various scholarships, they'll have some entrance scholarships and after your first year you can start qualifying for academic scholarships as well. Here's the link for UofM's financial aid site, it can give you lots of information. http://umanitoba.ca/student/fin_awards/ The province also has lot's of scholarships and grants available that you can apply for. I've been there so I know it can seem daunting that you're going to have to pay out all this money to go to school for 4 years and won't be making the same amount as you are now, but in the end it's worth it. I was in your same situation, lots of bills, rent, wanting to go to school, etc, and just graduated from UofRegina and was able to make it through with student loans and working part time.