The new semester in September has just begun. We have already received many parents' questions about their children's study abroad in the coming year. During the consultation process, we found that many of these parents actually can also immigrate to Canada directly . When we compare these plans for parents, they realized that immigration are more suitable for their overall family planning than only sending children to study in Canada. Today, we compiled these consultations and made a macro comparison to parents. We hope it could help for parents to make decisions which are more suitable for the future of the family.
Let's first look at the cost of applying for immigration with the whole family: (based on the immigration policy of 2019)
TYPE | ECONOMIC COST | TIME COST | WHO CAN ENJOY CANADA BENEFIT | REQUIREMENT | IMMIGRATION PROGRAMS |
Direct Immigration | CAD 350,000 | About 3-4 years | Whole family, including the children under 22 years old | 1. Get PR card directly 2. Not required for English 3. Not required for diploma | Quebec Investor Immigration Program |
Business First, Immigration Later | Minimum investment: approximately CAD 200,000 | About 4-6 years | Whole family, including the children under 22 years old | 1. The whole family can come to Canada as soon as start business in Canada 2. English is required (Minimum IELTS 4) | 1. Ontario Entrepreneur Immigration Program 2. Saskachewan Entrepreneur Immigration Program 3. Manitoba Entrepreneur Immigration Program 4. BC Entrepreneur Immigration Program |
Let’s take a look at the economic costs of sending a child to study in Canada each year:
STUDY TYPE | ALL ECONOMIC COST | NOTE |
Primary School, Junior secondary school, Senior secondary school (Public school) | About CAD 30,000 | Tuition fee: about CAD 15,000 Living expenses: about CAD 15,000 |
Primary School, Junior secondary school, Senior secondary school (Private school) | About CAD 30,000 - 40,000 | Covering tuition fee, residential fee, meal fee, etc. |
Universities | About CAD 50,000 - 80,000 | Tuition fee varies from CAD 30,000 to 60,000 For such famous universities as University of Toronto and McGill University, the tuition fee usually reaches to CAD 50,000 - 60,000 Living expense: about CAD 20,000 |
University of Toronto
The tuition of undergraduate majors at the University of Toronto
from year 2018-2019
Image from the University official website
UBC, University of British Columbia
The tuition of undergraduate majors at the University of British Columbia
from year 2018-2019
Image from the University official website
McGill University
The tuition of undergraduate majors at the University of McGill University
from year 2018-2019
Image from the University official website
McGill University has been declared that the tuition will rise each years. In fact, every Universities’ tuition will increase each year.
From the table above, it is clearly showing that the tuition of international students are three to eight times comparing to the local students. Moreover, McGill University has a tuition policy to benefit the Quebec’s local student. The average tuition for a local student in Quebec is only 2400 CAD while international students’ tuition is about 45000 CAD. There is a 20 times of difference.
The cost comparison of a child who attending the University after graduated from high school:
(Does not include the children time to immigrate after graduating from university)
Type of schools | Cost | Times consuming | People who enjoy Canadian welfare | 7 to 8 years of risk regarding the immigration policy. | How long to achieve immigration for the whole family? |
3 years public high school + 4 years of university | At least 300k CAD | About 7 years | 1 | At least 2 years, after graduating from university, he or she must work for at least 1 year in the job that meet the immigration criteria. + 7 to 8 years of risk regarding the immigration policy. | Must wait the kid to have a permanent resident first and then with 3 years of consecutive high earning income. + Drafting |
3 years public high school + 4 years of top university | At least 400k CAD | About 7 years | 1 |
If there is more than 2 kids study at Canada, the cost will be much more. The expenses can be close to 1million CAD.
In the above analysis, in order to achieve the immigration for the whole family, it is more convenient in choosing the investor program or provincial entrepreneur program; furthermore, the welfare is not only limit to the tuition saving. The following table demonstrate the welfare of permanent resident.
Benefit of a permanent resident | ||
Event comparison | Family with permanent resident | Family without permanent resident |
Studying from primary to high school | Tuition free in studying at public school. | Expensive tuition, average of 15000 to 25000 cad per year Living expense need to be paid individually. |
Attending university | Cheap tuition (can refer to the table above), it can apply government subsidies for education. | Expensive tuition, 30 to 60k each years plus cost of living. |
Health care | Free for whole family | Each students need to pay 800 to 1000 health insurance. |
Choice freedom. | Free to choose any schools and major. The chance of entering top universities an employments are higher. | Some top universities have limited spots. Some majors do not accept international students. |
Freedom of study | It can change major or schools freely. | Change schools might need visa extension and the passing rate is not 100%.
|
The right at work | There is no restriction at work plus it can get free help from government in job seeking. | Need to apply working permit after graduation. If within 3 years cannot get the permanent residents, it is mandatory to leave the country. |
Welfare | It can enjoy health care, family subsidies, unemployment allowance, social assistance and others (except for voting right and the right to vote. | No applicable. |
In social welfare, every children below the age of 6 can receive assistance from government as much as 6639 annually and when the children from age 6 to 17 can receive 5602 per year.
The above is the most objective and practical data analysis comparison. Parents who want to know whether they meet the requirement for the investment immigration or entrepreneurial immigration programs are welcome to consult with us. We will tailor the most suitable immigration plan for you.