International Student Funding Stats for Study in Canada

[jesuscares]

Hello fellow international students

 

What is your take on the issue of funding international graduate students in canada? Were any of you successful in retrieving funding? 

[TakeruK]

I'm a Canadian student but I had lots of contact (and are friends with) many non-Canadian grad students while I was a grad student in Canada. In our field (physics, but probably true for other physical sciences), grad students (domestic or international) do not get tuition waivers -- instead, we are paid a stipend that is meant to cover both tuition and living expenses and then from that we have to pay tuition. International students pay a higher tuition rate, usually 2 or 3 times the domestic tuition rate. At many schools, this difference in tuition is covered by a special award -- so that your total stipend will be higher, but your tuition costs will be higher too.

 

Sometimes, the tuition rate goes up faster than the special international tuition award amount. This is because the Graduate School determines the cost of tuition, while the special tuition award might come from a departmental budget (that might be funded by profs pooling their grant money together). When this happens, my friends tell me that sometimes they end up paying a few hundred dollars more tuition than a domestic student would.

 

Most schools will only accept students that they can fully fund. Fully funding an international student means an increased cost so this means it's a bit harder for an international student to get in. 

 

Finally, international student might have increased fees compared to domestic students too. Basic health care (doctors, etc.) is covered in Canada by a government plan. Depending on the province, it's either free or comes at a monthly cost that is scaled to your income (most grad students will pay nothing). However, this is a benefit for Canadian residents only -- international students will have to enroll in a separate Health Insurance Plan, which will cost money. I'm not sure how much but I know that some schools will also offer increased stipend/funding to pay for (or at least help pay for) this increased cost.

 

Summary: Physical science programs in Canada fully fund all of their students -- domestic or international and they will only accept you if they can fund you. Your "take-home" pay should be about the same as a domestic student, but you might have to pay a little bit more in fees, especially those related to health care.

[jesuscares]

thanks for the insight takeruK!  also are you aware of the chances realistically for international students to receive an OGS? 

[TakeruK]

They changed the OGS allocation system this year so I can't say for certain. In the old system (pre 2011?), there was a quota of OGS set aside for international students. However, the number was pretty low (30 out of 3000 awarded?) so they are pretty hard to get. My international friends expressed their frustration that the Ontario government did not really want to fund international students, but the 1% quota was just "for show". But now that OGS are awarded completely internally, I don't know what the rules are! Since OGS are Canadian taxpayer funded, it makes sense to mostly award them to Canadians and the quota might vary due to different governments' policies too.

[random17]

As an international student in Canada I'm guaranteed full funding for four years. This includes tuition (the amount I'm given is equal to the higher international tuition) and the same stipend the domestic students get. I also get free health care through the university-it's a very basic plan but it's designed to be equivalent to the provincial healthcare. It is harder to get admitted as an international student, however, because you cost the university more money. I know my department has a quota and only lets in 3 or 4 non-Canadian students per year.

In terms of OGS, I'm not sure how the new rules affect it. My department has X OGS awards to give out this year and I was allowed to submit an application as a non-Canadian, but I don't know if it will be considered for the department's awards or if all the international applications are put in university-wide pool or what. Also, not being Canadian means you're not eligible for NSERC/SSHRC, which are the other fellowships grad students are encouraged to apply for.

[jesuscares]

random 17 are you pursuing your masters or phd?

Edited March 19, 2013 by jesuscares

[random17]

PhD, but the same is true for Masters students in my department;they just only get one funded year instead of 4.

[jesuscares]

ok and the student normally would complete the masters program within a year?

Edited March 20, 2013 by jesuscares

[random17]

In my dept., 1.5 to 2 years to finish a Masters is typical. In that case, it's up to you and your supervisor to figure out funding for the second year. Other depts. at my university have set the funded cohort to be Masters students in years 1 and 2 and PhD students in years 1-3, so it depends what field you're in and what school you're applying to, probably.

 

Essentially, if you're admitted, you should be guaranteed the same funding package as a domestic student. Where it will be harder for you is if you need to come up with your own funding at some point, because you won't be eligible for most Canadian fellowships.

[foucaultmania]

I am an international applicant. I am so sorry but I would like to write the amount of money that I was offered.

 

Okay, McMaster has admitted me to the PhD in political science. I was offered 27.770 CAD, but for the tuition, fees and health care they require back 16.500 CAD. So they want that I should survive with 11.270 CAD per year. And the funding is guaranteed for 4 years even though the program is for 5 years. However, two days later of admission e-mail, the POI sent me an e-mail and said that he wants to work with me and he can supply more funding through RAship.

 

I hope this may help.

[jesuscares]

thanks random and foucaultmania. focaultmania congrats. what was the funding package like for york?

[kyjin]

I'm an American currently finishing my MA in Canada.  When I was accepted, I was guaranteed full funding from my department for two years. That covers my tuition plus a small living stipend. (PhD students have a much higher stipend, bit I made do with a second job on campus to cover the difference.)  My department does not fully fund all of their students, but they make no distinctions between international or domestic applicants when it comes to funding. (Ie there are a few Canadian students in my dept who have no funding, while several of the international students have partial or full funding.)  It really depends department to department and university to university, though I don't know how Alberta will be in the coming year since the provincial budget just knocked down funding to the university by 7.2%...

[jesuscares]

oh wow kyjin you are really unfortunate! 

[foucaultmania]

thanks random and foucaultmania. focaultmania congrats. what was the funding package like for york?

 

I haven't received the letter of financial support from York yet.

 

I will let you know after receiving.

Edited March 25, 2013 by foucaultmania

[foucaultmania]

Hi, I received the financial package from York.

 

It is 21.600 CAD per year for 5 years and 3.000 CAD for the first year as an entrance scholarship. And there is 1.600 CAD per term in the form of international tuition fee reduction.

 

I still have to pay tuition, but I do not know how much I am going to pay...

[TakeruK]

In Canada, tuition for graduate students is generally a fixed rate for most graduate students in the Arts and Sciences (different fees may apply for professional programs or other fields). This is different to undergrad, where you usually pay based on how many classes you are taking. This page seems to summarize the fees for grad students at York: http://sfs.yorku.ca/fees/courses/gradfaq.htm

 

This page here, shows the fees for graduate students at York: http://sfs.yorku.ca/fees/courses/index.php?term=fw12&faculty=Graduate%2BStudies (You can change the drop down menu if you're not actually in Graduate Studies. The only other relevant is Masters in Environment, but your signature says PhD).

 

It seems like you will have to pay $4010.82 per term as an international student, which is about $2200 per term more than a domestic student. This includes both tuition and fees, but NOT "UHIP", which is the health plan costs (domestic students do not have to pay for health care in Ontario). I'm not 100% sure how a "term" is defined at York, but there are usually 3 terms per year, so the total annual tuition + fees are York seems to be about $5500 for domestic, and $12000 for international. This sounds about right based on my experience with Ontario universities.

 

UHIP (http://www.yorku.ca/yorkint/uhip/) costs about $700 per year.

 

So, it seems like your total stipend for the first year is 21600 + (1600 x 3 terms) + 3000 = $29,400. It will cost you about $12,700 for tuition, fees, and UHIP, which means you have about $16700 leftover for rent, food, books, etc. In future years, you will only have $13,700 per year leftover.

 

You probably want to check the links again to make sure I did the math right etc. but hope that helps you navigate the confusing structure of fees etc. you would have to pay!

[jesuscares]

congratulations foucaultmania. u got a great deal with York!

[mtlve]

I was looking at U of toronto I think for the sciences. My boss would have paid for everything but tuition was over 2x as expensive for non-Canadians. This would probably make it hard to find a position at least there

[jesuscares]

mtlve. is your program is a phd or a masters?