Form 1015: what you need to know 

As early as 2015, AQEIPS noticed that a concern was raised by a partner organization regarding the 2014-2015 version of form 1015. According to a letter addressed to the General Director of University and Inter-order Affairs, the problem of a lack of clarity in the form, particularly the absence of a specific box for so-called “emerging” disabilities, such as learning disabilities is said to be problematic and is criticized. 

However, under section 47 of the Regulation respecting financial assistance for studies, only a limited number of disabilities are recognized as a major functional impairment; severe visual impairment, severe hearing impairment, motor impairment and organic impairment. The AFE therefore maintained throughout its practices that a learning disability was not recognized as a major functional impairment. 

The university advisors confirmed that for a diagnosis of, ADHD, for example, doctors who checked the “organic deficiency” box when completing the form allowed several students to be given the DFM status, while students whose doctor checked the “language or speech disorder” box, did not receive the DFM status. Simply because a doctor checked a different box, while entering the same diagnosis, some students saw their loans transformed into bursaries while others did not. The advisors therefore requested a revision of the form to introduce a separate category for these disabilities and clarify the rules in order to avoid any ambiguity. 

It was only in May 2018 that an “others” box appeared on the form. This box allowed health professionals to write in a diagnosis of an “emerging” disability situation that was not listed on the form, such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder and any other situation. 

Although the form indicated that only “by checking Yes in the first four [major functional impairments: severe visual impairment, severe hearing impairment, motor impairment and organic impairment]” the document made the student eligible for financial assistance entirely under the form of a bursary (Ministry of Higher Education, 2018). With the new fifth box “others”, people with an emerging disability falling into this category could not be granted access to this bursary under regulation 47. Nevertheless, students and their doctors seemed to expect a positive response from the AFE, which led to a lot of confusion and requests for review. 

According to a written exchange between Mr. Jean-François Roberge and Mr. Simon Jolin-Barette, it seems that this famous “others” box was removed in August 2018, almost three months later, following an intervention by the College of Physicians with the AFE. 

Several students who submitted form 1015  which contained the “others” box allegedly received a phone call from the AFE inviting them resubmit a second version of the form (without the “others” box), recreating a context similar the one denounced in 2015; simply because a doctor checked a different box, while entering the same diagnosis, some students saw their loans transformed into bursaries while others did not. 

According to a report published in 2022 by the Protecteur du Citoyen, the AFE does not have an in-house medical service, and confirmed in an interview that it does not have the necessary expertise to question the opinion expressed by a doctor who completed form 1015 (p.30). The processing of requests is thus purely administrative, and a request was automatically accepted when the doctor certified by checking the matching boxes that the deficiency: 

– Is permanent; 

– Causes significant and persistent limitations in the accomplishment of the student’s academic activities; 

– Are part of one of the four categories of impairment provided (severe visual impairment, severe hearing impairment, motor impairment and organic impairment). 

This would explain why (with the same diagnosis) some students obtained DFM status while others did not.

According to current understanding, even if this “others” box had not been removed, students with disabilities whose health professional would have checked “others” in 2018 would not have obtained DFM status, as the diagnosis would have been entered on the same form supported by the regulation 47. 

In 2023, a project was introduced to modify article 47 of the Regulation on financial assistance for studies. The project aimed to replace the fixed categories of major functional impairment with a broader definition that considers the significant and persistent impact of an impairment, thus extending the definition to emerging disabilities. This modification is welcomed by both AQEIPS and the Protecteur du citoyen and appears to be in line with the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights. 

However, the new question on integration into the labor market, which was added to the form, was strongly criticized for both its lack of realism and lack of complexity. Already in 2022, the AFE mentioned to the Protecteur du citoyen “that in 2018 it had added a question on the ability to work after graduating to its medical certificate, but that the College of Physicians had requested that it be removed. The professional order in fact maintained that its members were not able to answer this question, especially several years before a student had completed their studies.” (Protector du Citoyen, 2022, p. 31) Thus, the new form, available below, presents its share of questions.