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How to Study in Canada for Free

Canada is an ideal destination for higher studies for many students. It is a place with top-notch universities with its academic excellence and high quality of life. It offers students a wide choice of programs including practical knowledge through various institutions having quite reasonable tuition fees.

Canada is overall an affordable place to study in. As compared to other top universities in the world, universities in Canada offer significantly less expensive education to the students without compromising on the quality of education.

About

Canada is a country in North America, also the second-largest country in the world.  The capital of Canada is Ottawa and it comprises three metropolitan cities which are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada being the highly developed country has the seventeenth-highest nominal per capita income globally and the sixteenth-highest ranking in the human development index.

The official language of Canada is English and French but most of the Canadians speak non-official languages as their mother tongue which are Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, German and Italian, etc, and the official currency here is the Canadian dollar.

Life in Canada

In Canada, you will experience the most happening student or college life. You will get to do so much more than just studying. There are many tourist attractions available for international students to visit and have fun like Vancouver, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Montreal.

There is much other stuff as well for the entertainment and pleasure of the students like the live theatre experiences, various international film festivals, and last but not the least, the nightlife here is absolutely amazing as many casinos, bars, karaoke, clubs, and concerts are organized here.

Study for free in Canada

Canada is a very prominent place when it comes to studying abroad for higher education. More than 600,000 international students are studying in Canada presently. And this number increases every year by hundreds and thousands of students moving to Canada for studying purposes. 

Studying in Canadian universities offer you a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate programs in business, information technology, engineering, telecommunications, digital marketing, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, teaching, nursing, etc. And not only this they also provide paid-work placements along with that.

Now, As stated above, Canadian universities offer less expensive or affordable education to their students but there is no such thing as free education here. However, there are a bunch of scholarships and awards available for international students by the government of Canada and the universities as well where they can apply if they have a good academic record.

Put together your application early:

To apply for the universities you need to prepare and submit your application as early as you can do so that you could get early preference over other students.

Also, You need to be aware of all the requirements of the institution you are applying to plus the courses and the scholarships they offer.

Your application should consist of all your academic competencies and achievements.

You need to work hard on your study and get good grades because only based on that your application will be considered by the higher authorities and you will get selected at your target university.

 Then, after that whichever university you are going to apply for, you have to share this application with them and wait for them to reach you if they find your application worth considering.

Apply for top-affordable universities:

Now, if one could not avail a scholarship or an award then he/she can apply to some of the affordable universities where the tuition fees are quite reasonable and less burdening without compromising on the quality of education.

Tuition fees at Canadian universities may vary depending on the program and the institution the student enrolls in. Tuition fees of undergraduate program will cost you around CAD 20,000 to CAD 30,000 per year and for postgraduate it will cost up to CAD 10,000- CAD 20,000 per year except for the MBA programs which are quite expensive.

Even these universities provide different types of financial aid or scholarships to their students.  You can avail many entrance-based scholarships, merit-based scholarships, or need-based scholarships.

Below are some of the affordable universities you can consider:

  1. Newfoundland and Labrador’s university also known as the memorial university of Newfoundland is the cheapest university in Canada for international students
  2. The University of Manitoba is a public research university in Winnipeg, Canada. It is the oldest university in western Canada and one of the countries’ top research institutions.
  3. The University of Ottawa is the largest bilingual university in the world located at the heart of Canada’s capital.
  4. The University of British Columbia is consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world and recently recognized as the north’s America most international university. 
  5. The University of Alberta is a public university in Edmonton, Canada. It is one of the top 5 Canadian universities and one of the top 150 universities in the world.
  6. The McGill University is a public university in Montreal, Canada. It is Canada’s top-ranked medical doctoral university ranked consistently as one of the top universities worldwide.
  7. Concordia University is a public research institution located at the heart of the famous city of Montreal, Canada. The university is among the top universities in Quebec and in Canada for international students.
  8. Study bachelor’s in Canada for free

Many of the top universities provide undergraduate program scholarships or entrance scholarships to international students as well as domestic students entering for the first time in their universities.

They not only cover the tuition fees of the university but the overall living expenses of the students which includes everything for the 4-year undergraduate program.

The amount and duration of scholarships may vary depending upon the scholarship program and the institution you are applying for.

Some of the undergraduate scholarship programs are:

Lester b. Pearson international scholarship program is one of the most prestigious and competitive scholarship program offered by the University of Toronto to international students applying for undergraduate courses. It covers all the costs of study as well as the cost of living in Canada.

International major entrance scholarships are offered by the University of British Columbia to undergraduate international students. It is a merit-based scholarship

Scholarships at Carleton University offers a variety of scholarships like entrance scholarships, prestige scholarships, Carleton capital scholarship, Sprott school of business scholarship, and many more.

UBC international awards are the various need-based and merit-based scholarships or awards given to the students looking for financial aid at the University of British Columbia. 

University of Alberta awards and scholarships offers undergraduate scholarships ranging in value from $500 to $ 20,0000

Study masters’ in Canada for free

Having a master’s degree from one of the world-renowned universities in Canada will help you further in your career development. It will open a bunch of the best career opportunities for you with high salary expectations. It will hold a good reputation of you in front of your employer.

Now, Studying master’s in Canadian universities is quite costly but nothing to worry about as most of the universities here provide scholarships to international students as well as the Canadian students who are planning to pursue their postgraduation from these universities.

They provide financial aid to such needy as well as to deserving students with an amount ranging from $10,000-$20,000 up to 2 years of their post-graduation.

Study Ph.D. in Canada for free

Canadian universities also offer excellent scholarships or award programs for the students pursuing a Ph.D. from their universities.

The University of Manitoba graduate fellowship or UMGF includes full-time or part-time funding for the Ph.D. program. They grant scholarships amount ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 up to 4 years program.

Then, many top universities like the University of British Columbia also offer graduate global leadership fellowship with an amount ranging from around $15,000-$20,000 along with the tuition fees for 4 years program.

The University of Calgary offers a Vanier Canada graduate scholarship which provides selected applicants’ scholarship amount of around $12,000-$35,000.

There are many more scholarship options open for international students to study for free in Canada.

Eligibility criteria for scholarships:

As mentioned before, in order to get these scholarships and awards,  you have to study hard so that your academic record appears impressive in front of the authorities who are selecting candidates deserving of the grants.

However, all the universities and institutions have different eligibility criteria for the different scholarships but mostly for the merit-based scholarships you need to have a good hold of your academic foundation.

Most of the scholarship criteria follow the IELTS and TOEFL exams for checking the English language proficiency of the students for selecting suitable candidates.

Student visas for Canada

Studying abroad in any of the foreign countries requires a study permit of that country. Just like that, for studying in Canada, you have to obtain a study permit which works as a student visa for the duration of your stay in the country.

You can also skip getting a student visa or a study permit if you are only studying for six months or less.

Once, getting a study permit you can have it renewed within Canada later if you decide to stay for more years in Canada. Also, with the help of a student visa, you can apply for part-time jobs and internships if you want.

In order to apply for the student visa you must need:

  1. An acceptance letter from a designated learning institution.
  2. A passport
  3. Proof that you can support yourself while your stay in Canada.

You can apply for a visa through offline or online mode.

Apply for scholarships

As we have discussed the perks of studying and living in Canada so now we will move on to the scholarships available for the students seeking financial help for studying abroad. Students from not-so-good financial backgrounds always worry about the expensive tuition fees of the top international universities as well the living expenses of these countries.

But here is a solution for you, if you are good in your academics or you have shown an impressive academic standing with good grades, good test scores, and impressive participation in your previous class then you can enjoy the benefit of availing yourself scholarships by top institutions of Canada.

Below are some of the scholarships available for international students:

QS Leadership scholarship

It is a merit-based scholarship for international students pursuing a master’s degree at one of the partner institutions of QS scholarship. The scholarship offers an amount of 10,000 USD to only one student. The deadline for this scholarship is 31 May 2021.

Ontario trillium scholarship

It is a merit-based scholarship availed to international students pursuing a Ph.D. degree at one of the top universities in Ontario. An amount of 40,000 CAD is awarded to the best doctoral students from all across the globe every year.

Education future international scholarship 2021

It is a unique kind of scholarship fund created by scholarship winners worldwide. It is a great step ahead towards providing financial help to students from India.

CSA group graduate scholarship 2021

This scholarship offers funding to the students who graduated and planning to pursue a master’s at the publicly-funded accredited Canadian university.

British council- IELTS award 2021

 This award worth between $3,000-$10,000 depending on the tuition fees of the institution chosen by the winner. This award is open for all nationalities and any subject offered by the universities.

President scholarship for world leaders for international students in Canada 2021

This scholarship is being offered by the University of Winnipeg to the international students entering for the first time in any of the university’s divisions. The deadline for this scholarship is June 1, 2021

Check the eligibility criteria and application procedure at the official websites of these scholarships. Through these scholarships students seeking financial support can lessen the burden of studying in Canada and apart from these scholarships, students can also go for part-time jobs or paid internships for compensating for their living costs.

Conclusion

In the end, there are only two choices for the international students seeking financial aid for studying in Canada.

Either to apply for any of the above-mentioned scholarships or they can also do internships or off-campus part-time jobs to help them managing their education and living expenses.

Amit Kumar

FreeEducator.com blog is managed by Amit Kumar. He and his team come from the Oxford, Stanford and Harvard. At FreeEducator, we strive to create the best admission platform so that international students can go to the best universities - regardless of financial circumstances. By applying with us, international students get unlimited support and unbiased advice to secure the best college offers overseas.

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