Socioeconomic background

Access to financial resources

Approximately 8 out of 10 students have access to financial resources for tuition and living expenses.

A high percentage of students (83%) have access to financial resources for tuition and living expenses, which is lower than what was observed in 2022 (86%).
Similar to 2022, the 2023 results show that support from family, work income, and personal savings are the principal sources of student income. To a lesser extent, students have access to provincial government funding, Concordia scholarships, and bursaries. Compared to 2022, there is an increase in students accessing provincial government funding and a decrease in support from work income and personal savings. The economic context may affect the ability of students to pay for their studies on their own.
Students under 25 years old are more likely to receive financial support from their family (78%), while 63% of students aged between 25 and 34-years old work to cover tuition and living expenses. Older students (55 years old or more) are more likely to have access to personal savings to cover expenses during their studies (65%).

A significant proportion of students (13%) mention not having access to financial resources for tuition and living expenses. This is especially true among caregivers, parents or legal guardians (17%), Canadian citizens by naturalization (16%), Canadian immigrants (18%), and those who identify as a racialized person (15%).
40% of students who have access to financial resources report that the money completely covers their tuition and living expenses, while 26% state that their financial resources moderately cover their expenses.
29% report weak coverage of their tuition and living expenses. This includes students aged between 25 to 34 years old (38%), graduates (34%), Canadian immigrants (38%), those with a temporary resident status (33%), caregivers (39%), members of a linguistic minority group (34%), those who self-identified as a racialized person (34%), and members of a religious or faith community (30%).

Almost 3 in 10 students have financed their studies through government loans.

27% of students finance their studies through government loans. A lower percentage do so through private loans. Compared to 2022, students rely less on government loans and slightly more on private loans. Women, members of a gender-diverse community, members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, racialized persons, students who are a member of a linguistic minority group, and/or persons with a disability or impairment are more likely to have financed their studies through government loans.
Parents, caregivers, and Indigenous students report higher proportions of usage for both types of loans.

45% of students are currently employed, excluding paid work that is part of a for-credit academic program such as an internship, co-op, etc. This represents a significant decrease compared to last year (51% in 2022). The recent rise in the national unemployment rate may partly explain this situation.
Parents or legal guardians (53%), Canadian citizens by birth (53%), caregivers (50%), women (49%), and undergraduate students (47%) are more likely to have a job.
Employment proportions are significantly lower among men (42%), respondents with a temporary resident status (29%), graduate students (42%), and members of a linguistic minority group (44%).
Half of all employed students work between 10 and 25 hours a week. 63% work during weekdays, and 50% during weekends.
27% work on weeknights, while a similar proportion (29%) have variable schedules. Part-time students are more likely to work over 25 hours a week (51%) whereas the majority of full-time students (79%) work 25 hours or less a week.
Respondents aged 25 years old and over are more likely to work over 35 hours a week (32%).

Half of working students say that their job interferes with their studies.

Among working students, half consider that their job interferes with their ability to study and/or complete academic exams or assignments. This is less than in 2022 and a positive change.
Caregivers (59%), persons with a disability (59%), members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities (56%), part-time students (53%), racialized persons (51%), and/or undergraduate students (49%) are more likely to report that their job interferes with their academic success.