Name: Canada scored for university
Creator: Pathoff

Where these figures came from

One row per ingredient. Open any of them for the source, how far we trust it, and when we last checked.

Tuition~$37.7–43.6k/yr

Canadian universities set their own international fees and the spread inside one country is wide, so two large research universities in different provinces stand for it. UBC Vancouver publishes 2026/27 annual full-course-load tuition for international undergraduates of CAD 51,530.40 (Arts), 53,082.00 (Science), 66,199.66 (Applied Science) and 66,678.30 (Commerce) — a median of CAD 59,640.83. The University of Waterloo charges by term and publishes, for international undergraduates, CAD 23,598 (Environment), 24,560 (Health and Science), 27,010 (Arts), 28,970 (Mathematics) and 34,597 (Engineering) a term — a median of CAD 25,785, so CAD 51,570 across the two academic terms of a regular year. Optometry and pharmacy are left out. Recorded at the median of the two, CAD 55,605.42 a year. Both are among the country's most expensive; smaller provincial universities charge less, and a wider sample would sit lower.

Confidence: printed in the source
Last checked: 2026-09

Living~$1,650/mo

Pathoff judgement directed by evidence, not computed from it: the country’s position comes from the World Bank household consumption price level for 2024 (0.906 of the United States, CC BY 4.0 — the ICP benchmark carried forward annually by the World Bank’s own method); the US reference budget is ours. See the Pathoff method, section 12.

Single student, all in. Compared at country level, so capital cities and large metros run higher. The price level behind it prices the basket residents buy, and a foreign renter cannot reach the cheap end of local housing — poorer countries may still sit too low here.

Confidence: made by us from the source

EducationInternationally recognised

Pathoff education rubric (the Pathoff method, section 9-1), degree band "Internationally recognised": An English-language degree accepted everywhere without explanation, with several institutions known by name in third countries. At the top of the band; short of the one above because outside those few the median Canadian university still needs introducing.

Research impact 66th percentile globally — median of 40 ranked universities (CWTS Leiden Open Edition 2025). Research output, not teaching quality; it informs the band, it does not set the score. Australia sits higher on this measure than Canada while we score it lower, which is the note doing its job: it measures research output across the institutions in the sample, not what a degree is worth to an employer.

Confidence: made by us from the source

Work after studyAn open work permit, up to three years

Pathoff outcome rubric (the Pathoff method, section 10-2), degree outcome band "A post-study route you can rely on": The post-graduation work permit is open — no employer, no sponsor, no occupation match — for a period set by the programme length up to three years, with master’s graduates eligible for the full three regardless. The most generous post-study route on this site. Short of the band above because it is a permit that must be applied for and granted, is capped in length, and now carries a language test.

Applicants since 1 November 2024 must submit a language test result, and a field-of-study requirement applies to non-degree graduates. The eligible-programme list had 178 programmes removed in June 2025 and reinstated in July 2025. The route works, but its terms have been moving.

Confidence: made by us from the source
Rule: Changed recently — older guidance elsewhere is out of date
Last checked: 2026-09

SafetyHigh

Global Peace Index 2026: rank 14 of 163, score 1.525. Converted by the Pathoff GPI formula (GPI in lib/scoring.ts)

Fourteenth globally and first in its region by a very wide margin

Confidence: made by us from the source

What it is like here

The post-graduation work permit is an open work permit for up to three years: no employer, no sponsorship, no occupation match, and it feeds directly into the permanent residence system. Nothing else here offers that. What has changed is the certainty around it — a language test since November 2024, a field-of-study list for non-degree graduates, study permit caps, and an eligible-programme list that was cut and partly restored during 2025.

How the process works

Check the programme is PGWP-eligible before you pay

For non-degree programmes this is the single most consequential question.

Timing not confirmed

Study permit, under a provincial allocation

Study permits are capped and allocated by province, which affects timing.

⏱ 2–5 months

Apply for the work permit within 180 days of the final result

The window closes; a language test is now part of the application.

⏱ 2–5 months

Where students go

Toronto / Waterloo

The largest concentration of universities and graduate employers

Montreal

Cheaper, English-language universities inside a French-speaking province

Vancouver

Mild, expensive, and closest to Asia

Everyday livability

The small frictions that decide daily life, which guidebooks skip. Hover a row for the source.

New glasses~3–7 daysoptical chains everywhere; not covered by the public plan

Bank accountSame daynewcomer accounts are a standard product

Domestic post2–5 daysslow across a country this size

See a doctorDays to weeksfinding a family doctor at all is the real obstacle

SIM cardSame daypassport is enough; plans are expensive

Found something wrong?

Most of the figures on this site are numbers we made from what a source does say, and every one of them says so when you open it. The fastest way a number becomes one you can look up is somebody who has actually been.

A fee you were quoted that is not the fee we list

A rule that changed after we last looked

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