Hello everyone,
I have a huge issue that I could really use some advice on. I am going into the second year of my MA program. I won OGS for 2014-2015 and I registered for the summer term for "thesis" thinking I could live frugally with the $3,700 I have leftover after summer tuition and get a head start on my thesis. However, my long term relationship is dissolving and I need to find my own place to live. To offset the costs of moving and higher rent (the cheapest bachelor apartments in this city are $700/month), I would need to pick up a summer job but OGS says you can not work longer than ten hours a week which cuts me off from most work. I likely won't get my fall funding or TA paycheck until October, although I can get a TA pay advance of $700.
I emailed the awards office about it and the lady said that she can't do anything about if I work off-campus but that the Canadian Revenue Agency might audit me and give me trouble if I go that route. Aside from having to pay back my scholarship if I am found out, what are other consequences? Would it jeopardize my scholarships for next year? Am I completely screwed unless I find an under the table job? I already paid for tuition for the early summer term and have passed the refund date. Also, if I dropped the scholarship completely I wouldn't make much more than the amount at a minimum wage job anyways.
I feel really stuck and I am from a poor, single parent family so I don't have anyone I can ask for money.