While you obsessively stare at pictures of Justin Trudeau (don’t deny it!), you may as well see whether Canada is actually a place you can study abroad in. The Great White North and the super friendly upstairs neighbors to the U.S., Canada is known for its maple syrup, the Niagara Falls, and their excellent ice hockey teams.
Studying in Canada has become an appealing option for international students. Not only is it one of the safest places to go to in the world; Canada (and particularly major cities like Toronto and Vancouver) also has a wealth of cultural diversity that is truly inviting to foreign students from everywhere in the world.
Did you know that Canada is the world’s most educated country? In fact, over half of its residents have university degrees. It must be pretty interesting to be a student there, eh?
Some of the top international universities and colleges are located in Canada, and students from all over the world have come to join the biggest names in their field.
Experts in Journalism, Politics, Medicine, and Technology got their start at universities like the University of Toronto and McGill University; and you’ll have the chance to work alongside some of the sharpest minds in the world.
Canada offers an interesting variety of higher education institutions: universities, colleges, polytechnics, and cégeps (vocational schools). Depending on the goals you have, or what you’re looking for, you may want to select the institutional model that fits your needs.
Canadian college and university graduates are highly-valued on the job market, and people who study there have been able to find great jobs in any field they’re interested in.
No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you want to study, Canadians are ready to welcome you warmly. The North American country invests a lot of effort to ensure international students are safe, treated fairly, and happy to take part in the Canadian education and lifestyle.
If you were to see all of the top university rankings lists, you’d see a strong presence of Canadian universities in all of the top 100 lists. Below we’ll run through some of our favorite highlights:
Canadian higher education is known for being quite casual, and students at the university level are given quite a level of flexibility with regard to attendance, course requirements, and assignments.
However, students still have to abide by the classroom rules set by their individual instructors, and understand what the expectations are for each course.
Generally, degree courses are discussion-based, seminar-style classes, where it’s a smaller group of students debating or questioning different topics. You’ll also find the normal lecture-style classes, especially for topics that have a lot of students (Computer Science, Medicine, Business, etc.). The way courses are structured really depends upon the content or the subject being taught.
In Canada, you’ll enter a giant buffet of subjects to select from. Universities in every major city in all of the provinces offer degrees in a wide range of Master’s and Bachelor’s degree subjects – from Art History to Neuroscience, to Accounting and Software Engineering. To narrow down this panoply, here are some that you can consider:
Although Canada is a huge country, geographically speaking, most of its inhabitants live toward the southernmost region of the country. Some of the biggest cities in the country are also home to major universities and institutions:
Each university in Canada has its own system on their website that allows future students to apply for and enrol in their degree programmes. So, once you select the university of your choice, you can go through their application and submit your materials there.
Here are some of the basic requirements you’ll need for every application:
These kinds of courses enable degree-seeking students to get an extra educational boost just before they start their Master’s degree or other post-graduate degree programmes. Try a pre-M.B.A., pre-Law, or pre-Medicine programme, as well as any other foundation or preparation courses that will allow you to study in the degree programme of your choice.
If you’re attending a Bachelor’s, Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Canada, you will need to prove that your language skills are good enough to participate in the classes and understand the lectures. These courses will also prepare you for any of the English-language tests that universities require.
To apply to study in Canada, you’ll need to provide proof you have a diploma for your English proficiency.
The certificates generally accepted by the universities in Canada are:
Still, you should always check on your university’s website, just to be sure what the exact requirements are.
Let's take a closer look at the average tuition and living expenses in Canada:
In Canada, the fees vary based on your level, university, discipline, and country of origin. Private universities are more expensive than public ones, but overall, tuition fees for international students range between:
Compared to the rest of the world, Canada can be rather pricey. Especially in major cities, you may find that transportation and food have higher price stickers than most other countries.
You should prepare at least 800–1,500 CAD per month for most cities. In Vancouver or Calgary, living costs can reach 2,000 CAD per month.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the average costs for various things in Canada:
Fun Facts about Canada
Recent international policies promote international university cooperation and student exchange between countries worldwide. High-quality study and PhD degrees are made more available to students in order to create a global educational network, achievable through student and staff mobility. Career and research oriented programmes support international student development.
University cooperation enables students study worldwide, for instance in Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States and provides ways of recognizing previous degrees. Different study options offer appropriate alternatives to students, depending on their preferred mode of study.
Many study programmes in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America are English-taught. The most popular international student destinations include the following countries: Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United States, and more. However, these are not the only countries offering English-taught education. The rest of the world is full of endless study choices, from highly ranked to smaller, more specialized, universities.
If you want further education beyond the undergraduate level or if you want more personal development or a career in academia, you could obtain a PhD degree. PhD degrees are postgraduate programmes that usually follow a Master's, MPhil or MRes, but there might be additional requirements depending on the university. Students are required to do their own research in a chosen topic. With the help of a supervisor, you develop knowledge and analytical skills in a specific or multidisciplinary field and you carry out independent research. The duration of a PhD degree differs per country and institution. Sometimes your own research is accompanied by work for the department such as giving seminars or small group teaching.
PhD students are required to study on campus under close supervision, but there are universities that accept students enrolled into a part-time distance education PhD degree. Studying on campus can also be full-time as well as part-time, in which case the part-time variant is normally twice as long as the full-time study.
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