Surviving on little money in Vancouver

[Christa]

Hey guys,

I've been accepted at a school in Vancouver with a taxable funding of about 21,000 which I have to pay tuition and fees out of. I'm an international student so I'm not familiar with the Candian system and I would like to clarify a few things.

After paying tax and other things out of my stipend that leaves me with about $11,000-$12,000. Is that enough to survive in expensive Vancouver? (I'm planning on being very frugal). If not, then realistically how much more would I need? and are schools usually okay with their students picking up some extra work in addition to TA/RA to cover expenses?

Also, which one is cheaper renting a place or living on campus?

Any additional financial advice would be most welcome.

Thanks!

[purpledinosaur]

I'm not an expert on Vancouver, but I think it would be pretty difficult to live on that little money. For example, I live in Montréal, Québec, where the cost of living is lower than Vancouver. I have a little more money than your estimate of 12,000 left after tuition, but it's still tight paying $600 rent, plus utilities, plus transportation and food, etc.

Check whether your school has a work-study program, where you can work on campus. This is often the method of employment for international students at my own institution in Canada, but I know that not all schools will allow international graduate students to participate. Keep in mind that it is not always legal to work outside of your institution as an international student... check the laws on that! (Sorry, I'm a domestic student and I don't know that much about it.)

[Christa]

I'm not an expert on Vancouver, but I think it would be pretty difficult to live on that little money. For example, I live in Montréal, Québec, where the cost of living is lower than Vancouver. I have a little more money than your estimate of 12,000 left after tuition, but it's still tight paying $600 rent, plus utilities, plus transportation and food, etc. Check whether your school has a work-study program, where you can work on campus. This is often the method of employment for international students at my own institution in Canada, but I know that not all schools will allow international graduate students to participate. Keep in mind that it is not always legal to work outside of your institution as an international student... check the laws on that! (Sorry, I'm a domestic student and I don't know that much about it.)

Thank you for your response. I'm already going to be working as a TA and/or RA and that's why I was worried that the school might not be too enthusiastic about me pursuing work in addition to my TA duties and the time I should be spending working on my thesis.

How is income tax calculated in Canada? As I found out online in BC it's 5.06% and the fedral is 15% for my income bracket, so does that mean if my stipend is X dollars, I'd pay .0506* X + 0.15*X? and is there any tax refund in Canada for people whose income isn't much?

Thanks again!

[ktel]

Hey Christa,

I'm a Canadian at U of T, and I would say Toronto and Vancouver are probably similar in terms of costs, i.e. both are expensive! My stipend is roughly double, and after I take out a bunch of my lump sum expenses I'm left with just under $1500 a month to live on, and I live comfortably. I will note I do live with my boyfriend who works full time, so inevitably some of my expenses end up being covered by him.

Unfortunately I can't help you out with the taxes, other than to tell you that many forms of graduate school income are NOT taxable (such as scholarships or fellowships). I find it interesting that your entire stipend is taxable.

[Andsowego]

Hi Christa,

Even if your stipend is taxable, you'll still be in a very low tax bracket which means that when you file your taxes, you'll get a refund of everything you paid (or if you didn't have tax deducted throughout the year automatically, it means that you'll still be in a low enough tax bracket with your income being offset by your tuition amount, that you won't have to pay anything out).

As for living off campus vs. on campus in Vancouver, I've done both, and it really comes down to whether or not you want a roommate, how much space you need in order to stay sane, AND what insitution you'll be attending. (UBC? SFU? other?). I'm not going to lie, rental prices in Vancouver are expensive! (I believe statistically - and anecdotally - it's the most expensive city in Canada to live in). With a roommate, you can do it a lot cheaper, but you might be better off living on campus. One of major benefits to living on campus is that you won't need a car, but one of the major downfalls to living on campus is the noise. It might not have been annoying as an undergrad, but trust me... as a grad student, the less noise you have to put up with, the better! Feel free to PM me if you want more institution-specific or area-of-city-specific advice.

eta: for details on whether or not scholarships/awards/bursaries/other are taxable in Canada, you should go here (Revenue Canada site... make sure you don't just rely on anecdotal advice, which - including mine - might not be 100% accurate!): http://www.cra-arc.g...s/menu-eng.html

Edited February 25, 2012 by Andsowego

[TakeruK]

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).

[Christa]

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).

Wow your reply on the other thread was great but I wasn't able to find the $9800 base amount on the CRA website. What is it called officially?

and yes, I'm going to UBC and there are residences where you share with other graduates and upper undergraduates. Those have a monthly rent in the range of about 600-650 which I thought was reasonable since that includes furniture and internet access and I hope heating and water .

How much would you expect to spend on food and other living expenses a month?

[Christa]

Hey Christa, I'm a Canadian at U of T, and I would say Toronto and Vancouver are probably similar in terms of costs, i.e. both are expensive! My stipend is roughly double, and after I take out a bunch of my lump sum expenses I'm left with just under $1500 a month to live on, and I live comfortably. I will note I do live with my boyfriend who works full time, so inevitably some of my expenses end up being covered by him. Unfortunately I can't help you out with the taxes, other than to tell you that many forms of graduate school income are NOT taxable (such as scholarships or fellowships). I find it interesting that your entire stipend is taxable.

Well a small part of the stipend is an award to help offset the difference between international and domestic tuition which isn't taxable, but the rest of it is according to the acceptance letter.

[TakeruK]

Wow your reply on the other thread was great but I wasn't able to find the $9800 base amount on the CRA website. What is it called officially? and yes, I'm going to UBC and there are residences where you share with other graduates and upper undergraduates. Those have a monthly rent in the range of about 600-650 which I thought was reasonable since that includes furniture and internet access and I hope heating and water . How much would you expect to spend on food and other living expenses a month?

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.

Edited February 25, 2012 by TakeruK

[spark1989]

Hi christa,

if u got an offer from UBC, do check at towards the end where they say that tuition is paid by the institute. This is what I remember.

Also, stipend at UBC for PhD is slightly more than 23 I think. At least, this is what my letter says.

I think at toronto, we do have to pay for tuition, but again stipend is slightly more to offset that.