A class-action lawsuit on behalf of students who say they were charged too much interest on their loans is going to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The country's highest court has agreed to hear the case of Harry Dikranian, who lost at the Quebec Court of Appeal.

Dikranian's four years of loans totalled nearly $27,000, and his loan certificate included an exemption period during which the Quebec government agreed to pay the interest.

The National Assembly later changed the rules and shortened the exemption period. Provincial officials forced Dikranian to pay $300 extra in interest.

Just like a contract?

He sought permission to file a class-action suit, claiming the loan certificate was equivalent to a contract and couldn't be changed retroactively.

The Quebec Superior Court disagreed, saying the student loan was issued under a government social program and so wasn't a contract.

Dikranian went to the Court of Appeal, where he convinced one of the three justices.

Melvin Rothman agreed the loan certificate is a contract, and said Dikranian was entitled to assume there'd be no extra interest payments. However, two other justices agreed there was no contract.

Dikranian asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, and it has agreed to in its next term, which begins in the fall.