Even in a low - and in some provinces zero - interest rate environment, growing numbers of young Canadian workers are finding it difficult to repay their student debt.

According to Statistics Canada, between 2012 and 2016, there was a 49% increase in student loan borrowers enrolled in Repayment Assistance Program (RAP), a federal program for loan borrowers having trouble or unable to make the required monthly payment.

RAP allows for deferred or decreased payments until program recipients are in a better financial position to resume required payments. While helpful, RAP does extend the term of the loan as well as increase the cost of the loan. And disproportionately, 66% of RAP recipients are women.

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