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Are you having difficulty repaying your student loans?

You've come to the right place because the CanLearn site has everything you need to know about what to do when student loan payments become a challenge.

And we present it in three easy steps.

Step 1 - Contact Your Loan Providers

If you have difficulty meeting your student loan payments, you should contact your loan providers immediately.

That will either be the National Student Loans Service Centre or your provincial loan provider.

You'll also want to keep your contact information up to date with them so that you'll continue to receive loan information.

By doing so proactively, you'll reduce the likelihood of falling behind on your loans.

Step 2 - Review Repayment Help Programs

The federal, provincial and territorial governments offer measures to help you repay your student loans

when you're experiencing financial difficulty.

For example, the federal government has just launched the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP.

The provinces and territories also have programs. Use the RAP estimator on the CanLearn site and contact your provincial or territorial student assistance office

to find out what you might be eligible for.

RAP is available to help student loan borrowers manage their debt, by ensuring that they can afford their loan payments.

Under this plan:

- No borrower will have a repayment period of more than 15 years (or 10 years if they have a permanent disability).

- Loan payments are based on the borrower's income, family size and ability to pay.

- The maximum affordable loan payment will not exceed 20 percent of a borrower's income.

In certain cases where borrowers earn very little income, they would not have to make any loan payments until their income increases.

Check out the links below for more information on RAP.

There are also a number of other programs offered by the Government of Canada.

Check out the CanLearn site to learn more.

Step 3 - Apply for the Program that Suits Your Situation

Once you have an idea if a repayment program would suit your needs, speak with your loan providers to apply.

The large number of programs available means that there is likely one that can help you.