TakeruK

Cool, that's interesting to know! And this will be helpful when I am in the US next year. Just to clarify though, in Canada, fellowship money is intended to be enough to both pay tuition and living costs and is not taxable. In addition, similar to your tuition remission credit, we get tax credit for tuition, living costs ($400/month), "textbook costs" ($65/month), and any monthly or yearly bus passes you buy. So with tuition averaging around $6k, and a basic tax-free income exemption of 10k, a full time grad student would have to make more than ~$22k per year in TA/RA ships in order to pay taxes. The average minimum grad student stipend, before tuition, is around $24k, and, for students without external fellowships, is 1/3 TA, 1/3 RA, and 1/3 internal fellowships. So grad students in Canada will generally not pay any taxes and also accumulate tax credits that can be used once you graduate and get a post-doc or other work.

This is a combination rant/call for advice/warning.

It will probably not apply to the majority of readers, but tax laws are very punishing for Canadians studying abroad long-term who also own (and rent out) property in Canada. We're not real-estate speculators or anything like that, but my wife and I did want to keep our house (maintaining the delusion that I may be lucky enough to find a tenure-track position in our home town). So we found a tenant to rent it, and her payments are mostly covering our mortgage, insurance, property taxes, and the like. We're not making any money, but at least we were almost breaking even.

Until...discovering that we are now required to pay 25% of our gross "income" in taxes since we are classed as non-residents of Canada. You can claim some deductions, like the property taxes, but not the mortgage payments. End result will be a bill of almost $2500 a year. Just thinking about this right now gives me chills...it's hard enough to scrape by on a TA salary, and I don't know how we're going to manage it. It's also too late to easily transfer ownership of the house to a family member in Canada, which would have been more attainable while we were still classed as residents.

So, any ideas?

I don't think it's unethical to omit information that is not specifically asked for. However, to avoid any chance that I get misinterpreted, I want to say that this information (previous schools/programs attended) is almost always directly asked for! So I do think this specific case is unethical, but omission of information in general is not always unethical. This post doesn't really apply to OP's situation, but I wanted to present some balance to the posts here that are, in my opinion, the opposite extreme.

That said, even if you signed a digital signature saying that your application information is "COMPLETE" and "ACCURATE". I understood "complete" to mean "included everything asked for in the application", for example I didn't include my CV for the schools that did not request it. "Complete" does not mean it is my responsibility to think of every possible piece of information to attach. For example, in my SOP, I only wrote about my academic plans / goals for the future. I didn't include other goals that could/would impact my academic career, such as my plans to start a family while in a PhD and the fact that I am going to eventually move back to my hometown in about 10 years time, even if I have to leave academia to do it. In all of my applications, I indicated my intents for a career in academia, but during my PhD career, I will be doing things to ensure I am employable outside of academia as well.

This probably doesn't apply in OP's case, since there is usually (but not always) a question that asks if you have ever withdrew from a graduate program before. The question about schools attended is almost always worded so that you must include every school you where you were ever enrolled in a degree-granting program, even for just 1 semester. Everyone above has already outlined all the risks of the OP continuing in the program. Don't forget about the non-academic consequences too (financial, family, legal, etc.)

To answer OP's question though: In your case, I would consider two options:

1. Write to the graduate school, POI, department, etc. and let them know about your omissions. Explain your reasoning and why you realise now it was a mistake. I would probably start with your POI and department.

2. Give up on this school, forever. You could decline the offer, and apply again to different programs next year. This way, you don't have to tell them your mistake and as long as you don't apply to the same school ever, it's not likely anyone would find out (since it's not likely the school will remember the profiles of every applicant that declined their offer). Even if it is eventually found out, it's unlikely to impact your career since you didn't take advantage of your deceit. Although if you try to run for government office, this kind of information would be very scandalous!

Option 1 gives you a chance to still attend your dream program, but it might be really unlikely they will still accept you, since you were dishonest in the first place. Even if they did, you will carry that reputation around forever. What will your references from your PhD program write about you in their LORs? Thus, if I was in this situation, and if I still wanted to go for a PhD program, I would take Option 2.

So like this?

___is currently a top choice for graduate studies next year. However, I am still planning to visit one more university before I make a final decision. They are hosting me on March 30th. I realize that this would place my decision outside of the three week window that was originally offered me. I am hoping that ___ will be willing to extend the deadline on this fellowship until I have had the opportunity to visit my last program.
Thank you,
Stephanie J....

I don't think it's unethical to omit information that is not specifically asked for. However, to avoid any chance that I get misinterpreted, I want to say that this information (previous schools/programs attended) is almost always directly asked for! So I do think this specific case is unethical, but omission of information in general is not always unethical. This post doesn't really apply to OP's situation, but I wanted to present some balance to the posts here that are, in my opinion, the opposite extreme.

That said, even if you signed a digital signature saying that your application information is "COMPLETE" and "ACCURATE". I understood "complete" to mean "included everything asked for in the application", for example I didn't include my CV for the schools that did not request it. "Complete" does not mean it is my responsibility to think of every possible piece of information to attach. For example, in my SOP, I only wrote about my academic plans / goals for the future. I didn't include other goals that could/would impact my academic career, such as my plans to start a family while in a PhD and the fact that I am going to eventually move back to my hometown in about 10 years time, even if I have to leave academia to do it. In all of my applications, I indicated my intents for a career in academia, but during my PhD career, I will be doing things to ensure I am employable outside of academia as well.

This probably doesn't apply in OP's case, since there is usually (but not always) a question that asks if you have ever withdrew from a graduate program before. The question about schools attended is almost always worded so that you must include every school you where you were ever enrolled in a degree-granting program, even for just 1 semester. Everyone above has already outlined all the risks of the OP continuing in the program. Don't forget about the non-academic consequences too (financial, family, legal, etc.)

To answer OP's question though: In your case, I would consider two options:

1. Write to the graduate school, POI, department, etc. and let them know about your omissions. Explain your reasoning and why you realise now it was a mistake. I would probably start with your POI and department.

2. Give up on this school, forever. You could decline the offer, and apply again to different programs next year. This way, you don't have to tell them your mistake and as long as you don't apply to the same school ever, it's not likely anyone would find out (since it's not likely the school will remember the profiles of every applicant that declined their offer). Even if it is eventually found out, it's unlikely to impact your career since you didn't take advantage of your deceit. Although if you try to run for government office, this kind of information would be very scandalous!

Option 1 gives you a chance to still attend your dream program, but it might be really unlikely they will still accept you, since you were dishonest in the first place. Even if they did, you will carry that reputation around forever. What will your references from your PhD program write about you in their LORs? Thus, if I was in this situation, and if I still wanted to go for a PhD program, I would take Option 2.

I don't think it's unethical to omit information that is not specifically asked for. However, to avoid any chance that I get misinterpreted, I want to say that this information (previous schools/programs attended) is almost always directly asked for! So I do think this specific case is unethical, but omission of information in general is not always unethical. This post doesn't really apply to OP's situation, but I wanted to present some balance to the posts here that are, in my opinion, the opposite extreme.

That said, even if you signed a digital signature saying that your application information is "COMPLETE" and "ACCURATE". I understood "complete" to mean "included everything asked for in the application", for example I didn't include my CV for the schools that did not request it. "Complete" does not mean it is my responsibility to think of every possible piece of information to attach. For example, in my SOP, I only wrote about my academic plans / goals for the future. I didn't include other goals that could/would impact my academic career, such as my plans to start a family while in a PhD and the fact that I am going to eventually move back to my hometown in about 10 years time, even if I have to leave academia to do it. In all of my applications, I indicated my intents for a career in academia, but during my PhD career, I will be doing things to ensure I am employable outside of academia as well.

This probably doesn't apply in OP's case, since there is usually (but not always) a question that asks if you have ever withdrew from a graduate program before. The question about schools attended is almost always worded so that you must include every school you where you were ever enrolled in a degree-granting program, even for just 1 semester. Everyone above has already outlined all the risks of the OP continuing in the program. Don't forget about the non-academic consequences too (financial, family, legal, etc.)

To answer OP's question though: In your case, I would consider two options:

1. Write to the graduate school, POI, department, etc. and let them know about your omissions. Explain your reasoning and why you realise now it was a mistake. I would probably start with your POI and department.

2. Give up on this school, forever. You could decline the offer, and apply again to different programs next year. This way, you don't have to tell them your mistake and as long as you don't apply to the same school ever, it's not likely anyone would find out (since it's not likely the school will remember the profiles of every applicant that declined their offer). Even if it is eventually found out, it's unlikely to impact your career since you didn't take advantage of your deceit. Although if you try to run for government office, this kind of information would be very scandalous!

Option 1 gives you a chance to still attend your dream program, but it might be really unlikely they will still accept you, since you were dishonest in the first place. Even if they did, you will carry that reputation around forever. What will your references from your PhD program write about you in their LORs? Thus, if I was in this situation, and if I still wanted to go for a PhD program, I would take Option 2.

I don't think it's unethical to omit information that is not specifically asked for. However, to avoid any chance that I get misinterpreted, I want to say that this information (previous schools/programs attended) is almost always directly asked for! So I do think this specific case is unethical, but omission of information in general is not always unethical. This post doesn't really apply to OP's situation, but I wanted to present some balance to the posts here that are, in my opinion, the opposite extreme.

That said, even if you signed a digital signature saying that your application information is "COMPLETE" and "ACCURATE". I understood "complete" to mean "included everything asked for in the application", for example I didn't include my CV for the schools that did not request it. "Complete" does not mean it is my responsibility to think of every possible piece of information to attach. For example, in my SOP, I only wrote about my academic plans / goals for the future. I didn't include other goals that could/would impact my academic career, such as my plans to start a family while in a PhD and the fact that I am going to eventually move back to my hometown in about 10 years time, even if I have to leave academia to do it. In all of my applications, I indicated my intents for a career in academia, but during my PhD career, I will be doing things to ensure I am employable outside of academia as well.

This probably doesn't apply in OP's case, since there is usually (but not always) a question that asks if you have ever withdrew from a graduate program before. The question about schools attended is almost always worded so that you must include every school you where you were ever enrolled in a degree-granting program, even for just 1 semester. Everyone above has already outlined all the risks of the OP continuing in the program. Don't forget about the non-academic consequences too (financial, family, legal, etc.)

To answer OP's question though: In your case, I would consider two options:

1. Write to the graduate school, POI, department, etc. and let them know about your omissions. Explain your reasoning and why you realise now it was a mistake. I would probably start with your POI and department.

2. Give up on this school, forever. You could decline the offer, and apply again to different programs next year. This way, you don't have to tell them your mistake and as long as you don't apply to the same school ever, it's not likely anyone would find out (since it's not likely the school will remember the profiles of every applicant that declined their offer). Even if it is eventually found out, it's unlikely to impact your career since you didn't take advantage of your deceit. Although if you try to run for government office, this kind of information would be very scandalous!

Option 1 gives you a chance to still attend your dream program, but it might be really unlikely they will still accept you, since you were dishonest in the first place. Even if they did, you will carry that reputation around forever. What will your references from your PhD program write about you in their LORs? Thus, if I was in this situation, and if I still wanted to go for a PhD program, I would take Option 2.

I know a lot of students who did the first two years of their BS degree at a local college (i.e. associate degrees) and then transferred to a University to complete their degree. Most people will end up doing 3 years at the University -- sometimes the college does not offer all the required lower level courses, especially if you want an honours BS. Some of these students are currently in grad school now.

However, this would decrease the student's chances of getting research positions, as they seem to favour those who started in University in the first place. So it would be a good idea to apply for co-op work programs if available (and if research work is part of the co-op work).

With all that said though, I don't think a Physics BS is guaranteed to get you a good job. I'm not convinced that a Physics BS is any less "useless" than associates in liberal arts and music, other than the fact that a Bachelor's represents more work than an associate's (but 2 associates = same time as a BS). I think all BS degrees are pretty much equally valued: people hire BS graduates because they have scientific reasoning, data analysis and critical thinking ability, not because of their major. BA graduates are valued for the ability to conduct research, critical thinking, and communicate effectively. So, a Bachelor's degree in anything is, more or less, equal value in the work force I think.

I'd encourage your friend to definitely think about whether or not it's actually worth it to pursue a BS though. If it's simply for better career options, I'd personally advise your friend to give this a lot of thought. He/she may end up much further ahead in life if they work for the next 4-5 years and gained valuable work experience instead of debt. A Physics BS may put your friend in the same situation as he/she is in now, but with additional debt and yet another 4-5 years of work experience behind their peers/competitors.

But if your friend has thought about this and realised that Physics/science is truly the only career he/she wants to do because he/she will be unhappy otherwise, then go for it.

So I don't want to discourage anyone from studying science/Physics but I just want to present some realities. Of course, your friend may have much different goals so I can't really say what's best for them. Personally, if I had already spent ~4 years in University/college, I would not want to go back and start all over again. There are other priorities in life, for me, so I don't want to devote all my energy/youth into school/career.

What about finishing off the liberal arts associate's degree to get a full BA? Then some career options may also open up. I guess it also wouldn't be too much of a risk to start a physics program at a local college to see how your friend feels about Physics -- but keep in mind that upper level physics, and especially graduate level physics is very different from lower level physics courses. This is especially true because many first year physics courses are taught to fulfill the physics/science requirements of other majors, not taught in a way intended for physics majors! So if there is an option between taking a physics course for physics majors, go for it. If your friend will take a calculus course first, then go for the calculus-based physics course if possible.

It depends on your field? I would guess that in most academic fields, having at least 2 academic recommenders is a minimum. It also depends on who your employer is...if the job is something very related to your field, then it should be good, but if the job is unrelated, then your employer is already your "non academic" recommender.

But having a sensei write a letter could be something that makes your application unique. This might work better for lower ranked schools that receive less applications though -- schools with hundreds of applicants to sift through might use this as an excuse to discard your application. Also, would your sensei be familiar with the style of an academic reference letter?

Finally, even if you can submit 4 letters, most places say that all submitted letters will be treated with equal weight...so having a weaker (i.e. non academic) letter can bring down your the "average"/overall quality of your letters.

Without further information, I would say you should choose between a letter from your employer or from your sensei. You can always write about the importance of martial arts in your Statement of Purpose and still get the same effect on the admission committee. I'd actually go with a letter from your sensei unless you have an impressive or related job!

It's called your "Basic Personal Amount". Here is the TD1, which is a form you fill out whenever you get a new job in Canada. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/td1-12e.pdf. The website that links to this form is: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/td1/

In this form, you fill out each row and the total amount is your tax credits. Everyone is eligible for the top number (which has gone up to 10822* now; it rises every year) and if you qualify for the next ~12 rows, this will be more! Note that #5 is the educational credits I was mentioning before.

(* note: for tax year 2012, which is probably what you want?)

I just noticed that non-residents have to meet a certain requirement to be eligible for these tax credits! On the second page of the TD1, it basically says that as long as over 90% of your total worldwide income is from Canadian sources, you can claim Canadian tax credits.

UBC residence is decent, "Marine Drive" is really nice, tall towers and usually 4 bedrooms sharing one kitchen and living room area. But you get a view of the whole campus through large glass windows. "Gage Towers" is older but also probably cheaper. I grew up in Vancouver so I didn't actually live on residence, I just commuted each day from home, but I've seen where my friends were living. It is important to note that in some residences, you will be kicked out for just under a week at the end of August because they need to "reset" all the residences for the new year. So be prepared for that!

There is a grocery store that recently opened on campus at UBC (technically just south of campus) -- Save On Foods. It's pretty pricey though but you can use your bus pass to go into Vancouver proper to get groceries as well. I would guess that groceries for a month would cost about $150, but this would be highly dependent on you! If you get a cell phone, that's about $40-$50 a month for a basic phone. Other things such as paper, books, etc. would cost the same in Vancouver as anywhere else.

650/month inclusive for residence could be pretty good, at least for your first year. You can probably get something cheaper off campus if you find someone to share with and then you would only have 1 roommate and have more control over who it is. Your bus pass is included in your fees so you don't have to worry about extra costs for commuting (just extra time!).

I also know some UBC grad students work on campus in one of the many student-run businesses in the Student Union Building. Also, I don't know if it's big in your field, but tutoring is often a popular side-job that many grad students do. The usual rate is somewhere between $30 to $40 an hour.

Finally, for times when you are short on cash, there is a food bank run by the student society (AMS) that provides a bag of food to students 5 times a year. In addition, there is a organic/vegan food place in the student union building that gives you free lunches about once a week if you bring your own tupperware.

Thank you, TakeruK!

It turns out that the Wikipedia page for US income tax is super helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States. Now I understand things like standard and personal deductions, tax brackets, etc. Yay!

It seems that the personal deduction is 3,700 and the standard deduction in 2011 was $5,800. So ultimately, most of my income would be taxed in the 10% bracket, which doesn't seem so bad. Also, I think my tuition waiver is applied directly to tuition (I need to check but I'm pretty sure), so I guess I will not be taxed on that.

Phew. This is stressful business! Thank goodness for Wiki...

I went through this last year. I managed to get a J-2 for my wife just by asking for it (which I did pretty soon after receiving the offer). She got her work permit without any trouble after writing the letter of application, showing that her income would not be required for our living expenses, and the permit arrived faster than expected (they estimate 3 months). Still, you have to pay quite a bit to apply ($380!).

In my understanding, you need to show that with the school's financial package and your own savings you will have enough money to cover the entire cost of the program. So I'm not sure if the caveat about it not being "personal" funds applies in every situation. I showed my TA offer (which I guess they projected over five years, although technically it was only for the first year with renewal conditional on performance), my savings/chequing balance, as well as a bank statement from my grandmother and her signature stating that she would support us if need be, although I have no intention of ever actually asking her for money. It worked out OK for us.

I understood that Canadians ARE subject to the home return requirement, though I could be wrong on this. I know it varies by discipline as well.

From what I've heard in the past, a spousal visa only works if you're actually married, though (I'm not sure where they draw the line between cohabiting and common-law in the quote above). Quick ceremony with the justice of the peace, and then a more formal celebration at some point in the future, perhaps?

I haven't found anything that says, when it comes to Educational Tax Credits, that International students are treated differently than Canadian citizens.

Income from RAships and TAships are considered normal income, as if you worked at McDonalds or something and that is fully taxable. You get a "T4" tax slip for these sources of income.

Income from Scholarships, Fellowships, or other Awards are no longer considered taxable income (as of tax year 2010), as long as certain requirements are met -- most importantly: you are considered a full time student. For these sources of income, you get a "T4A" tax slip. Source for this information: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p105/p105-e.html#P120_8332, which says: "The total amount of the award that is received by you as a student with respect to your enrolment in a program that entitles you to claim the full-time education amount qualifies for the scholarship exemption and is not reported as income on your tax return." If you are a part time student, then, basically, only the portion of the award equal to your tuition + $500 is tax free.

In addition, you are also allowed the following tax credits (from my 2010 tax return):
(also see source: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/323/dctn-eng.html)

$1 of tax credit for every $1 you pay in tuition.
$400/month of tax credit for "living expenses" for every month you are registered as a full time student (some smaller amount if part time)
$65/month of tax credit for "textbooks" for every month you are registered as a full time student ($20 if part time)
$1 of tax credit for every $1 you pay in public transit passes (only if you buy monthly passes or through your student fees)
You also get tax credit for moving expenses, but this is complicated to quantify.

And, everyone gets about $9800 of tax free income as a basic exemption.

So, lets say you pay $5000 in tuition and fees, and your program is 12 months full time, you will get $5000 + 12*$400 + 12*$65 + $9800 = 20380 of tax credits. This means that unless you make more than $20380, you won't pay ANY tax. You may actually qualify for other tax credits as well. And, the education tax credits (i.e. all of the above except for the $9800 basic exemption) are non-refundable credits (i.e. if you make less than this, you don't get money back) BUT they will carry over to future years (so if you graduate and end up working in Canada, it's extra tax credits for you!). In addition, you may transfer up to $5000 in educational tax credit to a spouse or parent who is making enough money to have to pay taxes.

Note: These numbers are for the FEDERAL taxes only. You also have to pay PROVINCIAL taxes, but they are calculated separately, with their own tax credit system etc. It's basically a repeat of what you do for federal taxes with slightly different numbers (for example in Ontario you get $481/month for living expenses instead of $400) but the end result is the same!

For most students, we never make enough money to have to pay tax and we graduate with a hefty amount of tax credits

All this is assuming that international students get the same credits but there's nothing I've seen that says otherwise.

Hi,

You should expect to pay pretty much no taxes on your stipend, unless you are making a ton of money! See my post in this thread: for some example numbers.

Rent in Vancouver is pretty expensive! Recently, Vancouver was "upgraded" to the #1 most expensive city to live in North America, edging out LA (http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+North+America+most+expensive+city/6150752/story.html) You probably would want to share to cut costs. I did my undergrad there, but I lived at home. From looking at rent prices when I was there, I noticed that rent is about $1000/month for a 1 bedroom place. So sharing is probably the best way to survive with your budget!

At UBC, living on campus is definitely not much cheaper. Thunderbird residences at UBC are nice 1-bedroom townhouses and it costs about $900/month. These are meant for grad students. I think you can also live in dorm-style residences for a bit less. (If you are going to UBC).

I'm in a similar situation -- my wife and I were worried that she wouldn't be able to work in the US until we found out about the J1 visa a few months ago. This is what I know from talking to International Student Offices and other F-1 and J-1 students.

1. One school told me that they can't actually tell me what kind of visa I'd get because each case is different and they don't get the details until I accept the school's offer. However, they said that the basic requirement is that the majority of the funds used to support the J-1 (me) and the J-2 (spouse) should NOT come from personal or family funds. They also said that they are authorized to issue the DS-2019 which I use to apply to US Immigration for a J-1 visa. So, it's up to US Immigration, not the school, what visa we get.

2. It's not clear ANYWHERE how much funding can come out of personal funds. Is 50% fellowship supported enough? Or do we need, say 75% level. What about tuition waivers, do they count as non-personal fund support? And does income from TA/RAships count as University support, or personal income?

3. I'm also Canadian so I applied to NSERC...would a PGS D be enough for J-1 status? By the way, I also applied to the Fulbright Traditional Student Award (15,000 USD for 9 months, non renewable), and part of that award is a J-1 visa. I checked with the Fulbright people, although the grant is only for 9 months, I will be able to keep J-1 status for the whole degree. NSERC PGS D is more funding than Fulbright, so maybe it will be enough too! (Assuming I even get either award)

4. I know several people who are on F-1 visas because they were unable to get a J-1 visa. Their spouses (F-2) are thus not able to work. I know some schools have "International Spouses Clubs" to support these spouses. I am not sure why these F-1 visa holders did not end up getting J-1 visas though.

So after that, it seemed pretty dismal! But a prof at my school had a student go through the same process a few years ago and he got a J-1 visa! He gave me more details:

5. University support due to TA and RA ships are indeed enough for J-1 status (he was funded by a TAship and a tuition waiver). Fellowships are even better! J-1 and J-2 visa must be covered under health insurance. Universities will generally assume you want a F-1 visa so he says to be sure to tell them you want a J-1 visa right away so there is no lost time.

6. He also says that if you do your first post doc in the US and it starts within 30 days of the end of your J-1 visa, you are eligible for an additional 3 year extension on J-1 status for post doc training. He recently graduated and is currently doing this now.

7. J-2 work isn't as simple though. This is what he wrote to me: "You'll need to write a letter explaining your situation and setting out your budget. The idea is that the J-2 is not allowed to support the J-1 financially, *at all*. All of your spouse's income is supposed to go to "cultural and recreational activities"." His wife got work authorization in 2009, he says.

Based on my experience asking people in departments that have accepted me:

8. Most people don't really know the visa process! Some will tell you that a J-1 visa is for "visitors or exchange students" only, because that's the name of the J-1 visa. But this is not true! Usually post-docs get J-1s and students get F-1s so that might be another source of confusion. But I still encourage you to ask the people at schools that accepted you, mostly to let them know that this is a concern for you. They are all usually glad to help and will set you up to talk to other students in the department who have done the same, or a staff member responsible for these matters, or get you in touch with someone from the University who knows what to do!

And here's a link to an official page: http://j1visa.state....ersity-student/ (but has lots of vague information!)

9. When I try to find the skills list that require home residency, all I found was this: http://travel.state....types_4514.html (2009). In this list, Canada is not listed, which means we don't have to go back. I don't know if there is an update since 2009 though. I didn't look too much further into it because I plan to go back anyways.

Finally, about whether or not being married is required:

10. I found this definition:

from http://travel.state....ssary_1363.html . It's vague, yet again. In Canada, common-law couples get all the same benefits as married couples so it is probably okay, but you should really check this! Again, I didn't look into this too much further since it didn't apply to me.

I hope all this was helpful, it's basically the results of the last 3-4 months of worried research! Some days, it felt like everything was going to work out and others it felt hopeless. But I am now optimistic about it all.

Good luck!!

Unfortunately rent in the area is kind of high. My husband is a Caltech grad and we pay about $1000 a month for a decent 1-bedroom, which is a good deal for a nice, well-kept place. Granted, part of the reason for the rent being so low is that you have to have really good credit to be approved. We do rent from an individual who owns the building. You might have a hard time finding a larger company with low rent in Pasadena. Most of what I've seen for anything bigger than a studio is in the $1600+ range with not too much on the low end of that. Sorry!

As far as getting to Caltech, there is a decent bus system, though you could walk if you lived close enough. It really just depends on where you end up renting. You might also consider living in Los Angeles and taking the metro in, but Pasadena is a really nice city and generally very safe as well.

Glad to help! Unfortunately you can drive for a day from most places in Ontario and still end up in Ontario (provided that you don't head towards the US!).

My wife and I drove from Vancouver to eastern Ontario when we moved here. It took 4 days of driving for ~8 hours to get to Manitoba (4 provinces: BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). We thought "yay, almost there!" But when we checked our driving schedule, it was actually another ~20 hours of driving before we actually made it to Toronto (and then we did a detour to Niagara Falls before arriving at our destination). Due to the shape, I think the distance from the western-most point of Ontario the eastern-most point is about the same as the distance across the four western provinces mentioned above! Google map says this is ~2400km = 31 hours if you drive along Ontario's southern shore (the slow scenic route that we took since we wanted to "drive across (most of) Canada").

If you want more info on what kind of fees/deposits are allowed (not many), see an unofficial FAQ here: http://www.ontariotenants.ca/law/law.phtml. The amount that your rent may increase each year is also limited by law (scaled according to inflation) Last year it was 0.6% but it was generally around 2-3% in previous years.

I can only give recommendation on touristy/museumy things since that's what I enjoy! Toronto is Ontario's capital so there are plenty of things like the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Art Gallery of Ontario if you are into that stuff. It could also be worth seeing the CN Tower. Ottawa has most of the national museums (being the captial and all) and in the summer, you can see a Changing of the Guard style ceremony at the Parliament. Just outside of Ottawa is also the "Diefenbunker", a Cold War era bunker built to protect our Government in case of a Soviet missile attack. It's pretty eerie, especially when the guide mentions things such as the blast doors were built to withstand both a missile as well as ordinary (radioactive) citizens trying to get in unauthorized!

For getting around between cities, other than driving, there is the train (VIA Rail) and the major bus companies are Greyhound, Coach Canada, and Megabus. VIA Rail is a bit nicer and more comfortable than the buses but generally the prices can be 2-3 times more and they are not 2-3 times nicer! Greyhound and Coach Canada are the big bus companies but they run different routes so sometimes their trip planner will give you a very roundabout trip! However, Megabus is probably the cheapest/best one. It's a discount bus company run by Coach Canada and you only buy tickets online. They started in the UK, then expanded to US before coming to Canada so you might already know about it. I was pretty happy to be able to snag a $1 bus fare to Toronto one time (normally I pay ~$15 with them, ~$30 with Coach Canada and ~$60+ for the train). Of course, driving is much more flexible, but if you want to fly somewhere, you pretty much have to get to Toronto International Airport and flying there from a local airport is usually crazy expensive.

I was born in Ontario, but grew up in British Columbia (yay west coast!) But I am currently back in Ontario for grad school.



Sorry, I won't be able to help you here, but maybe the school's international student office could. I'm in a similar situation since I am probably going to go to the US for a PhD program and my wife (who isn't a student but is Canadian) will be going with me. We've done a lot of research to figure out how she will be able to come into the US and work as well. Looks like we're going to need J-1 status. Anyways, I now realise I know more about US visas than Canadian ones!



The major banks in Canada (and Ontario) are: TD Canada Trust, BMO (Bank of Montreal), CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and HSBC (Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank of Canada). These banks have branches and ATMs pretty much all over the country. It would be worthwhile to check out the city you're moving to and make sure though. I've never banked with CIBC and HSBC before. I would avoid President's Choice though, since they don't really have any offices, and my friend who uses them complains to me that although CIBC branches are supposed to serve PC customers, they don't really like doing so. I found that RBC has pretty high fees so I closed my account with them a long time ago (they might be more competitive now though).

My favourite is BMO because they have great student account options. They offer a Mastercard with SPC (Student Price Card, gets you discounts at many places including the department store Zellers [kinda like Target]) and the ability to collect Air Miles, for free! You can also choose to get 0.5% cash back instead of Air Miles too.

However, the BEST thing, in my opinion, about BMO is their "banking plan" paradigm. You pay for ONE banking plan that serves all your accounts. The fees are waived if you meet some minimum deposit in your "main account". This is great for my wife and I since we just need to keep a minimum deposit in one joint account and all our personal and joint account have the same benefits. The minimums are a bit higher than TD (where I also hold an account) but cheaper overall because you would have to keep a minimum in ALL your accounts at TD to get the same benefits. For comparison, the best plan at BMO is $5000 minimum total while the best plan at TD is $3000 minimum per account for ALL accounts.



Popular websites in Ontario/Canada are kijiji (www.kijiji.ca) and Craigslist. When I moved to Ontario, another student recommended rental from the landlord company Homestead (http://www.homestead.ca/). They have properties all over Ontario and they are a large and reputable landlord. Most of their places are pretty good but they do have some dumps too. However, when looking at apartments, they had a very low rate of dumps compared to other places we looked at. You can also apply for places online, which is nice!

Some useful things you might want to know about the Ontario Tenant Act:
(1) Landlords cannot ask for any type of deposit, other than "Last month's rent" (LMR). So no damage deposit, no security deposit, none of that. You also get interest earned on the LMR each year.
(2) Landlords are not allowed to have a "no pets policy". Any "no pets" policy you sign is considered voided by the Tenant Act. Pets can only be removed if they are disturbing other tenants. Of course, it's better to not get in a fight about this and if pets are important to you, it's probably best to avoid places with these policies.
(3) Generally leases are signed for 1 year and then they are on a month-to-month basis. Tenants give their landlords minimum 2 MONTHS notice before vacating, so if you want a place for, say, Sept 1, you should be applying for places on July 1. Of course, it may also be possible to find a place when you arrive!

Finally, depending on the city, if you are moving to a place with a high student population, I'd really recommend checking it out in person before signing for it, because sometimes landlords take advantage of the lower standards of students. It might not be possible due to your current location, but if you could visit the city 2 months before you plan to move and actually pick out a place, it would be even better! Or maybe ask someone you may know (or get to know) in the city to check for you.



The big three cell companies are Rogers, Bell, and Telus. They have smaller, cheaper "child companies": Fido, Solo, and Koodo, respectively. The big companies generally have large, expensive plans ($50+ per month) and lots of smart phones. The child companies have cheaper plans for just talk and text. Fido has a family plan where two people can share one phone account. I currently use a $25 Solo plan with 100 minutes on weekdays (but they have upgraded this to unlimited), unlimited texting in Canada, and I pay an extra $10/month for call display and voicemail. I signed on a two year contract and got my phone for free. Another big company is Virgin Mobile. In addition, there are some newer and very cheap companies such as Moblicity and WIND mobile (with service the level of the big 3 and prices of their child companies!). Unfortunately, they are new so their network coverage is smaller and may not even serve your city! But do check it out.



Ontario Harmonized Sales Tax is 13%. The basic utilities are heat, water, and hydro (electricity) so if it's not included then expect to pay more for this. My rent includes the first two so I don't know how much they cost but our electricity bill is about $30/month. I say this because when looking at places in the US, I notice that they have trash listed sometimes too. This is taken care of by the city in most places here.

I'm not sure what else you mean about finding necessary things (so ask more if you'd like!) but here are some things that may help you "fit in" more, maybe!

Politics: The current Prime Minister is Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; which many may describe as a centre-right party). The current opposition is the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is a leftist party. The former opposition (they lost a huge number of seats in the last election to the NDP and CPC) was the Liberal Party of Canada, which could be described as a centre-left party. The CPC has been in power since 2006 (with a minority government) and has had a majority government since 2011. Before that, the Liberals were in power from 1993-2006. The NDP has never been in power (in fact this government has a record number of NDP seats). So now you've got a primer in case people around you start talking about our government!

Money: We have $1 and $2 coins, nicknamed the "loonie" and "twoonie" (also "toonie") respectively. Our bills are coloured and come in $5 (blue), $10 (purple), $20 (green), $50 (red), and $100 (brown) denominations usually.

More fun things: One thing that almost all Canadians love is the coffee and donut chain, Tim Hortons. Some parts of the US have them now so maybe you already know this! But to help you get talking with the locals, here are some useful food related vocabulary (not all Tim Hortons related):

Timbits = donut holes from Tim Hortons
Double-double = a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugar (you can also order a tea double-double though) from Tim Hortons
Timmies, Tim's, Timmy Ho's = Tim Hortons
Poutine = delicious french fries with cheese curds (you know these are real if they squeak when you bite into them), covered in gravy
Smarties = Candied covered chocolates (like M&Ms) -- Smarties in the US are called "Rockets" in Canada
Beaver Tails = fried flat piece of dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar usually; similar to "Elephant ears" or churros. Very popular in Ottawa.
Homo Milk = homogenized whole milk, equivalent to 3.25% fat milk.
(probably lots more but these come to mind first!)

And finally, the Ontario NHL hockey teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators. Be warned that pretty much everyone who isn't from Toronto will hate the Maple Leafs though. I'd recommend the Vancouver Canucks

Feel free to ask any other questions

I was born in Ontario, but grew up in British Columbia (yay west coast!) But I am currently back in Ontario for grad school.



Sorry, I won't be able to help you here, but maybe the school's international student office could. I'm in a similar situation since I am probably going to go to the US for a PhD program and my wife (who isn't a student but is Canadian) will be going with me. We've done a lot of research to figure out how she will be able to come into the US and work as well. Looks like we're going to need J-1 status. Anyways, I now realise I know more about US visas than Canadian ones!



The major banks in Canada (and Ontario) are: TD Canada Trust, BMO (Bank of Montreal), CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and HSBC (Hong Kong-Shanghai Bank of Canada). These banks have branches and ATMs pretty much all over the country. It would be worthwhile to check out the city you're moving to and make sure though. I've never banked with CIBC and HSBC before. I would avoid President's Choice though, since they don't really have any offices, and my friend who uses them complains to me that although CIBC branches are supposed to serve PC customers, they don't really like doing so. I found that RBC has pretty high fees so I closed my account with them a long time ago (they might be more competitive now though).

My favourite is BMO because they have great student account options. They offer a Mastercard with SPC (Student Price Card, gets you discounts at many places including the department store Zellers [kinda like Target]) and the ability to collect Air Miles, for free! You can also choose to get 0.5% cash back instead of Air Miles too.

However, the BEST thing, in my opinion, about BMO is their "banking plan" paradigm. You pay for ONE banking plan that serves all your accounts. The fees are waived if you meet some minimum deposit in your "main account". This is great for my wife and I since we just need to keep a minimum deposit in one joint account and all our personal and joint account have the same benefits. The minimums are a bit higher than TD (where I also hold an account) but cheaper overall because you would have to keep a minimum in ALL your accounts at TD to get the same benefits. For comparison, the best plan at BMO is $5000 minimum total while the best plan at TD is $3000 minimum per account for ALL accounts.



Popular websites in Ontario/Canada are kijiji (www.kijiji.ca) and Craigslist. When I moved to Ontario, another student recommended rental from the landlord company Homestead (http://www.homestead.ca/). They have properties all over Ontario and they are a large and reputable landlord. Most of their places are pretty good but they do have some dumps too. However, when looking at apartments, they had a very low rate of dumps compared to other places we looked at. You can also apply for places online, which is nice!

Some useful things you might want to know about the Ontario Tenant Act:
(1) Landlords cannot ask for any type of deposit, other than "Last month's rent" (LMR). So no damage deposit, no security deposit, none of that. You also get interest earned on the LMR each year.
(2) Landlords are not allowed to have a "no pets policy". Any "no pets" policy you sign is considered voided by the Tenant Act. Pets can only be removed if they are disturbing other tenants. Of course, it's better to not get in a fight about this and if pets are important to you, it's probably best to avoid places with these policies.
(3) Generally leases are signed for 1 year and then they are on a month-to-month basis. Tenants give their landlords minimum 2 MONTHS notice before vacating, so if you want a place for, say, Sept 1, you should be applying for places on July 1. Of course, it may also be possible to find a place when you arrive!

Finally, depending on the city, if you are moving to a place with a high student population, I'd really recommend checking it out in person before signing for it, because sometimes landlords take advantage of the lower standards of students. It might not be possible due to your current location, but if you could visit the city 2 months before you plan to move and actually pick out a place, it would be even better! Or maybe ask someone you may know (or get to know) in the city to check for you.



The big three cell companies are Rogers, Bell, and Telus. They have smaller, cheaper "child companies": Fido, Solo, and Koodo, respectively. The big companies generally have large, expensive plans ($50+ per month) and lots of smart phones. The child companies have cheaper plans for just talk and text. Fido has a family plan where two people can share one phone account. I currently use a $25 Solo plan with 100 minutes on weekdays (but they have upgraded this to unlimited), unlimited texting in Canada, and I pay an extra $10/month for call display and voicemail. I signed on a two year contract and got my phone for free. Another big company is Virgin Mobile. In addition, there are some newer and very cheap companies such as Moblicity and WIND mobile (with service the level of the big 3 and prices of their child companies!). Unfortunately, they are new so their network coverage is smaller and may not even serve your city! But do check it out.



Ontario Harmonized Sales Tax is 13%. The basic utilities are heat, water, and hydro (electricity) so if it's not included then expect to pay more for this. My rent includes the first two so I don't know how much they cost but our electricity bill is about $30/month. I say this because when looking at places in the US, I notice that they have trash listed sometimes too. This is taken care of by the city in most places here.

I'm not sure what else you mean about finding necessary things (so ask more if you'd like!) but here are some things that may help you "fit in" more, maybe!

Politics: The current Prime Minister is Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; which many may describe as a centre-right party). The current opposition is the New Democratic Party (NDP), which is a leftist party. The former opposition (they lost a huge number of seats in the last election to the NDP and CPC) was the Liberal Party of Canada, which could be described as a centre-left party. The CPC has been in power since 2006 (with a minority government) and has had a majority government since 2011. Before that, the Liberals were in power from 1993-2006. The NDP has never been in power (in fact this government has a record number of NDP seats). So now you've got a primer in case people around you start talking about our government!

Money: We have $1 and $2 coins, nicknamed the "loonie" and "twoonie" (also "toonie") respectively. Our bills are coloured and come in $5 (blue), $10 (purple), $20 (green), $50 (red), and $100 (brown) denominations usually.

More fun things: One thing that almost all Canadians love is the coffee and donut chain, Tim Hortons. Some parts of the US have them now so maybe you already know this! But to help you get talking with the locals, here are some useful food related vocabulary (not all Tim Hortons related):

Timbits = donut holes from Tim Hortons
Double-double = a coffee with 2 creams and 2 sugar (you can also order a tea double-double though) from Tim Hortons
Timmies, Tim's, Timmy Ho's = Tim Hortons
Poutine = delicious french fries with cheese curds (you know these are real if they squeak when you bite into them), covered in gravy
Smarties = Candied covered chocolates (like M&Ms) -- Smarties in the US are called "Rockets" in Canada
Beaver Tails = fried flat piece of dough, sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar usually; similar to "Elephant ears" or churros. Very popular in Ottawa.
Homo Milk = homogenized whole milk, equivalent to 3.25% fat milk.
(probably lots more but these come to mind first!)

And finally, the Ontario NHL hockey teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators. Be warned that pretty much everyone who isn't from Toronto will hate the Maple Leafs though. I'd recommend the Vancouver Canucks

Feel free to ask any other questions