Promissory Note Checklist

Completing the Promissory Note for provincial student loan & grant funding allows you to leave a balance owing on your account equal to the amount of your approved student loan & grant funding, until the funds are received and applied to your student account after the start of term.

You cannot use the Promissory Note for funding coming from student loans originating outside of Canada & the United States.

An estimate of government loan funding is not acceptable. If you do not have an assessment of your student loan funding, you have two options:

• Pay your fees in full by the due date to avoid Late fees.
• Complete your Promissory Note once proof of the funding is available to you; if this is after the term due date, Late Fees will apply.

OSAP

Your OSAP assessment for the term will appear as Anticipated Aid on your student account in Quest as soon as it is available. You do not need to upload proof of your OSAP funding in the Promissory Note process if it is already showing as Anticipated Aid.

Student Awards & Financial Aid will send confirmation of your enrolment to OSAP once you become Fees Arranged to request the amount of OSAP required to pay your term fees. Any OSAP not required to pay off your term fees will be sent directly to the bank account you indicated on the MSFAA.

Note: Student Awards & Financial Aid will only send Confirmation of Enrolment to OSAP if you are Fees Arranged and your account information (course load, program) matches your OSAP application information.

Other Provincial Student Loans

If your funding is from another province (not OSAP) a scanned copy of your provincial student loan assessment from a provincial website may be used as proof of funding, provided the amount and the term being funded are displayed.

From University of Waterloo

Your approved scholarships, bursaries, awards or GRS funding will appear as Anticipated Aid on your student account in Quest but will not be deducted from your account balance automatically. You must complete the Promissory Note, even if your financial aid is from the University and is already showing as Anticipated Aid.

You do not need to upload proof of awards that are already showing as Anticipated Aid.

If your award is not showing as Anticipated Aid, you can upload a scanned copy of a letter or e-mail verifying the amount of funding for this term.

Undergraduate students

Scholarship and bursary amounts indicated as Anticipated Aid will be applied to your student account balance during the second month of term, provided your registered status is "Fees Arranged".

Graduate students

Scholarships and awards indicated as Anticipated Aid will be applied to your student account balance during the first week of term, provided your registered status is "Fees Arranged".

From other Canadian or US organizations

Some external scholarships, bursaries and awards will appear as Anticipated Aid on your student account in Quest. If they do, you do not need to upload proof of that funding.

If not, you will need to upload a proof document showing that the funding is:

• for the current term
• payable to University of Waterloo
• for you

Remember that the award must be payable directly to University of Waterloo, not to you personally.  Scholarships and awards payable to you rather than to University of Waterloo, cannot be used on the Promissory Note.

You cannot claim scholarships, awards, or government loans from outside Canada or the USA.

Cheques representing external scholarships or bursaries payable to University of Waterloo should be sent directly to The Centre. Be sure your name and student ID number are on the cheque.

If you wish to use compensation you will receive for research or teaching assistantships to pay your student fees, you must complete the Promissory Note.

• If your anticipated RA/TA income is showing as Anticipated Aid on your student account, you will not need to upload proof of that funding when you complete the Promissory Note.  If the funding is not already displayed as Anticipated Aid on your student account, you need to contact your department for a funding letter specific to the term you are becoming Fees Arranged which confirms the amount of RA/TA funding. Upload this letter in Step 4 of the Promissory Note process.
• Note that an Offer of Admission letter is not accepted as proof of funding because the funding information on the offer letter is not specific enough for the Promissory Note.

• If you are also receiving scholarships, bursaries, awards or OSAP this term, and that funding will leave a balance on your account less than $100.00, your research assistantship or teaching assistantship cannot be redirected to pay your fees. Instead, you need to pay the remaining balance before completing your Promissory Note. 
• Approximately 10% of the value of the RA/TA funding will be allocated for mandatory payroll deductions and will not be available for paying your fees.
• The balance remaining after allowing for any scholarships, awards, bursaries and OSAP will be divided over the four months of the term and deducted from each monthly pay during the term.
• You are responsible to check your student account and payroll remittance advice monthly to ensure the payment plan is working as you anticipated.

Please note that the University cannot reimburse staff or faculty who choose to cover any fees posted to a student’s account, regardless of the reason. Departments wishing to provide financial assistance to students need to authorize an award or offer payment via an RA or TA.

The tuition benefit is available to Waterloo employees and retirees receiving a University of Waterloo pension, and their children. To qualify for the benefit for a specific term, the staff or faculty member must be a uWaterloo employee on the first day of term and remain an employee during the first three weeks of that term.

The amount of the benefit is generally 100% of the domestic rate tuition charge for Waterloo employees or retirees enrolled in courses, and 50% of the domestic rate tuition, co-op and work report marking fee charges for children of Waterloo employees or retirees; the benefit is pro-rated for employees who are employed less than full-time. The tuition benefit does not apply to fees remaining on your student account for courses dropped after the 100% refund deadline.

The completed tuition benefit form must be completeted by the staff/faculty member at least two business days before the Promissory Note is completed. The estimated tuition benefit amount will then appear as Anticipated Aid on the student account so it can be used to complete the Promissory Note without uploading any proof document. If your tuition benefit amount is not displayed as Anticipated Aid when you complete the Promissory Note, you can upload a screenshot of the tuition benefit application confirmation for the term in Step 4 of the Promissory Note process.

Your application for the tuition benefit is subject to confirmation of eligibility based on Human Resources records. Employees can only complete a tuition benefit application for the current term and the two prior terms only (if they were uWaterloo employees at that time but neglected to apply then).  Applications for terms prior to that are not accepted.

Tuition benefit amounts will be applied to student accounts during the second month of term, provided your registered status is "Fees Arranged".

For the child of an employee

• Be sure your parent completes the online form.
• The tuition benefit is only applied to charges for tuition, co-op fee and work report marking fee, not to incidental fees.
• If you want to deduct the amount of your tuition benefit from the amount you have to pay, you need to complete the Promissory Note along with proof of a completed payment for the fees not covered by the tuition benefit.

For an employee

Waterloo employees and retirees on a University of Waterloo pension may claim the tuition benefit for themselves for the fees for a maximum of two courses (1.0 credit) or part-time graduate studies per term.

• Be sure you complete the online form.
• The Promissory Note must be completed to apply the Anticipated Aid to the tuition balance. You do not need to attach a tuition benefit form as a proof document.

You will need to upload a scanned copy of a letter from your sponsor that states—

• your name
• the start and end dates of your funding
• name, address, e-mail address and phone number of sponsor
• any fees your sponsor will not pay

You also need to upload proof of payment of the fees your sponsor will not pay.

NOTE: funding from a family member or a family member's company is not considered a Third-Party Sponsorship and therefore is not acceptable on a Promissory Note.

The seniors bursary is available to students age 65 or older on the first day of term.  The bursary amount will appear as Anticipated Aid on your student account in Quest about two business days after you enroll.  Students are responsible for all other fees associated with the course. 

To deduct the amount of the bursary from the total you need to pay by the due date, you need to complete the Promissory Note. Include proof of payment of any incidental fees charged to your account because the bursary only covers the tuition charge.

The seniors bursary will be applied to your student account balance during the second month of term, provided you are Fees Arranged.

You will need to upload proof of payment of the remaining balance:

• a scanned copy of a receipt from making a payment at a bank in Canada
• a screen shot of your payment confirmation page from making a payment using online banking from a bank in Canada
• a scanned copy of a certified cheque, money order, cashier's cheque or bank draft from a Canadian or US bank
• a scanned copy of a receipt for a Western Union GlobalPay for Students transfer
• a scanned copy of a receipt for a CIBC International Student Pay transfer

A completed payment of any remaining balance calculated on the Promissory Note is due with your Promissory Note. If your payment is post-dated, we will not be able to process your payment or Promissory Note until the payment date.  If that is past the term due date, your Promissory Note will be considered late. Your payment must be dated on or before the due date to avoid a late fee.