How students intend to fund their tuition is a vital ingredient when it comes to a University or College education. While working and paying tuition remains a viable option, other sources that may or may not be available to prospective students include; family sponsorship, student loans, scholarships and grants, etc.
Although most of the tuition funding options mentioned above are readily available for a student who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the same cannot be said for an international student in Canada. The option of government student loan is not available for international students in Canada even though there are international students loans mostly available in the United States.
The other option which is not readily available to international students is working and paying for tuition (individual funding), which brings us to main premise behind this topic. Is it possible to fund your international student fees in Canada through part time or full time work?
Working while studying can be stressful especially if you are in a program that has a heavy course load. A good example of this type of program is Engineering. Engineering programs tend to easily pile up lengthy projects, assignments and tutorials for the student outside the normal lecture slot. This situation requires extra study time in some cases, leaving the student with very little time for part time work.
Hence, time is of essence for an international student who intends to work and fund his/her tuition in Canada. For the 20 hrs/week cap required for work during the regular study session (Sept. - April) by the immigration, it is simply not enough hours to make enough money to fund your tuition.
Working and paying your international differential fees will require full-time work during the regular study session. You will not only be breaking the 20 hrs / week cap set for part-time work but you will also be undermining the main reason you are in Canada which is to study.
If you exceed the part time hours required, you could be spending more time working than studying, which can affect your grades. Remember poor grades can lead to disciplinary action from your faculty; academic probation, suspension and dismissal.
If you are dismissed from your school and unable to register in another program or school you will not only have a hard time explaining to the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) why you are not in school, but will also be putting extra time on your study permit. Academic suspensions can take up to a year before you are allowed to return to your program. Academic dismissals just means you are indefinitely suspended from studying in your program.
Is it really worth it spending more time working to fund your tuition? Think about it.
Lets discuss the differential tuition, the wage from part time work and monthly expenses in the regular school year for an undergraduate international student.
The table below is a summary of the undergraduate international student rate (per course) taken from the University of Manitoba website. See full table here .
Lets say an international student named 'John' is taking Engineering at the University of Manitoba. According to the immigration (CIC), John must maintain a full time study during the regular session (Sept. - April).
During my undergrad years, a full time study at the University of Manitoba was considered 9 credit hours (3 courses minimum) and above. Most courses in Engineering are 3 credit units and above.
That means, at any point in time, John cannot take less than 3 courses.
In addition, for a program like Engineering, John needs to take more than 3 courses to be able to graduate in 4 - 5 years. The faculty of Engineering require that you must complete your degree in less than 7 years. But who wants to spend 7 years in school. John will need to take 5 courses per semester to be able to graduate within 4 - 5 years, assuming he doesn't fail any of the courses.
Based on the table above, if John takes 3 courses (all 3 credit hours) per semester he pays
$1240.65 x 3 courses = $ 3721.95
Remember with this option he won't be able to complete his program within the time frame of
4 - 5 years.
However, If John wants to graduate on time (4 - 5 years), he needs to take at least 5 courses
( all 3 credit hours) per semester which means he pays $1240.65 x 5 courses = $ 6203.25.
Keep in mind that, any time John takes a 6 credit hour course his tuition goes up. See table above for 6 credit hour rate for Engineering.
By the way, this calculation can be made for other courses in the table. I am just using Engineering as an example.
Also note that, not included in this tuition amount are other fees like technology fee, laboratory fee, student union fees etc.
Working is the only means John plans to fund his tuition, so lets examine how much money he can make through part-time work and full time work. By the way, a job is never guaranteed.
Part-time work
John works as a salesman in a fancy electronic store for $13 / hr for 20 hrs / week (Remember the immigration requires 20 hrs / week for work, during the regular school year). $13 / hr is a very good pay rate for a student part time job by the way, but lets just assume John is very lucky.
John makes: $13 x 20 hrs = $260 / week before taxes and say $200 / week after taxes.
( tax calculation is a rough guess here)
In a month John, makes $200 x 4 weeks = $800
And, $800 x 4 months (one semester ) = $3200
Full-time work
Same as part-time work except the number of hours is now 40 hrs / week (full time as recommended by the immigration) from May - August (summer months).
John makes: $13 x 40 hrs = $520 / week before taxes and say $400 / week after taxes.
In a month John, makes $400 x 4 weeks = $1600
And, $1600 x 4 months (summer months ) = $6400
John's Monthly Expenses
Room in a house - $400
Food - $150
Phone bill - $80
Bus pass - $70
School Supplies - $50 (could go higher if textbooks are included)
Miscellaneous - $50 (depends on individual life style)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total - $800
Although most of the tuition funding options mentioned above are readily available for a student who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the same cannot be said for an international student in Canada. The option of government student loan is not available for international students in Canada even though there are international students loans mostly available in the United States.
The other option which is not readily available to international students is working and paying for tuition (individual funding), which brings us to main premise behind this topic. Is it possible to fund your international student fees in Canada through part time or full time work?
Working while studying can be stressful especially if you are in a program that has a heavy course load. A good example of this type of program is Engineering. Engineering programs tend to easily pile up lengthy projects, assignments and tutorials for the student outside the normal lecture slot. This situation requires extra study time in some cases, leaving the student with very little time for part time work.
Hence, time is of essence for an international student who intends to work and fund his/her tuition in Canada. For the 20 hrs/week cap required for work during the regular study session (Sept. - April) by the immigration, it is simply not enough hours to make enough money to fund your tuition.
Working and paying your international differential fees will require full-time work during the regular study session. You will not only be breaking the 20 hrs / week cap set for part-time work but you will also be undermining the main reason you are in Canada which is to study.
If you exceed the part time hours required, you could be spending more time working than studying, which can affect your grades. Remember poor grades can lead to disciplinary action from your faculty; academic probation, suspension and dismissal.
If you are dismissed from your school and unable to register in another program or school you will not only have a hard time explaining to the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) why you are not in school, but will also be putting extra time on your study permit. Academic suspensions can take up to a year before you are allowed to return to your program. Academic dismissals just means you are indefinitely suspended from studying in your program.
Is it really worth it spending more time working to fund your tuition? Think about it.
Lets discuss the differential tuition, the wage from part time work and monthly expenses in the regular school year for an undergraduate international student.
The table below is a summary of the undergraduate international student rate (per course) taken from the University of Manitoba website. See full table here .
Lets say an international student named 'John' is taking Engineering at the University of Manitoba. According to the immigration (CIC), John must maintain a full time study during the regular session (Sept. - April).
During my undergrad years, a full time study at the University of Manitoba was considered 9 credit hours (3 courses minimum) and above. Most courses in Engineering are 3 credit units and above.
That means, at any point in time, John cannot take less than 3 courses.
In addition, for a program like Engineering, John needs to take more than 3 courses to be able to graduate in 4 - 5 years. The faculty of Engineering require that you must complete your degree in less than 7 years. But who wants to spend 7 years in school. John will need to take 5 courses per semester to be able to graduate within 4 - 5 years, assuming he doesn't fail any of the courses.
Based on the table above, if John takes 3 courses (all 3 credit hours) per semester he pays
$1240.65 x 3 courses = $ 3721.95
Remember with this option he won't be able to complete his program within the time frame of
4 - 5 years.
However, If John wants to graduate on time (4 - 5 years), he needs to take at least 5 courses
( all 3 credit hours) per semester which means he pays $1240.65 x 5 courses = $ 6203.25.
Keep in mind that, any time John takes a 6 credit hour course his tuition goes up. See table above for 6 credit hour rate for Engineering.
By the way, this calculation can be made for other courses in the table. I am just using Engineering as an example.
Also note that, not included in this tuition amount are other fees like technology fee, laboratory fee, student union fees etc.
Working is the only means John plans to fund his tuition, so lets examine how much money he can make through part-time work and full time work. By the way, a job is never guaranteed.
Part-time work
John works as a salesman in a fancy electronic store for $13 / hr for 20 hrs / week (Remember the immigration requires 20 hrs / week for work, during the regular school year). $13 / hr is a very good pay rate for a student part time job by the way, but lets just assume John is very lucky.
John makes: $13 x 20 hrs = $260 / week before taxes and say $200 / week after taxes.
( tax calculation is a rough guess here)
In a month John, makes $200 x 4 weeks = $800
And, $800 x 4 months (one semester ) = $3200
Full-time work
Same as part-time work except the number of hours is now 40 hrs / week (full time as recommended by the immigration) from May - August (summer months).
John makes: $13 x 40 hrs = $520 / week before taxes and say $400 / week after taxes.
In a month John, makes $400 x 4 weeks = $1600
And, $1600 x 4 months (summer months ) = $6400
John's Monthly Expenses
Room in a house - $400
Food - $150
Phone bill - $80
Bus pass - $70
School Supplies - $50 (could go higher if textbooks are included)
Miscellaneous - $50 (depends on individual life style)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total - $800
Monthly expenses for 4 months = $800 x 4 = $3200
Summary for one semester (Sept. - Dec. Or Jan. - April)
Tuition - $3721.95 (3 courses) Or $6203.25 (5 courses)
Work Income - $3200
Monthly Expenses - $3200
As you can see John's work income = his monthly expenses. ***Myth Busted***
John is still left with a bill of $3721.95 (3 courses) Or $6203.25 (5 courses) and therefore cannot continue until he pays up.
Summary for the summer months (May - August )
Tuition - $0 (Assuming John doesn't take any classes in the summer months)
Work Income - $6400
Monthly Expenses - $3200
John saves $6400 - $3200 = $3200
John's $3200 is not enough to pay for his tuition when he returns to school in September. He is still left with a bill of: $3721.95 - $3200 = $521.95 Or $6203.25 - $3200 = $3003.25
***Myth Busted***
Some graduate students might not have worry so much since they get funding from grants, scholarships and paid teaching assistant positions. Besides graduate student's tuition is generally more affordable than an undergraduate's tuition.
Either ways, it is not still advisable to expect to work and pay your tuition as an international student whether as an undergraduate or graduate student.
The Canadian High Commission offices abroad make it mandatory for potential international students to present a formal financial documentation at the time of visa application. The financial documentation will demonstrates how the student intends to fund their education and living expenses while in Canada.
The Canadian Consulate Officers expects all potential international students to fund their tuition. No student tells the Consulate Officers they intend to work and pay for their education while in Canada otherwise their visa application could be refused.
On a personal note, I know an international student who tried to work and pay his tuition. He worked the night shift for 8 hrs and would come to lectures in the morning only to sleep through the lecture and fail all his exams. Hence, he was back to square one; repeating the class and having to fork out the same tuition. Talk of chasing your own tail.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous Happy New year.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous Happy New year.
