5 good reasons to study in Canada

At one of the conferences I attended in London in 2016, I had a conversation with a Canadian school representative and I found myself asking him why Canada was a great destination for students. Of course, he came to ‘sell’ his school, so I wasn’t expecting anything short of that. He mentioned specifically something I couldn’t forget in a hurry. He said, “Canada can be called the ‘Employee Market’. It favors undergraduate and post graduate students because they can have 4 to 5 job offers post-graduation. Little wonder 90% of Canadian graduates are employed less than six months after graduation.

He further added “The baby boomers are a large population in Canada (as with many developed nations) with government needing to pay pensions, use tax money for state projects etc. A time was, when Canada was not a destination to be considered but the case is different now” …And we went on and on with this discuss.

 [By the way, Wikipedia has Baby boomers as people born during the demographic post-World War II. This includes people who were born between the years of 1946 and 1964 and are about 70 and 52 years old. The baby boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the world's population, especially in developed nations]

Because I know I don’t really like to read (especially lengthy write-ups), I would ‘try’ keep my 5 points very brief.

1.    Excellent for Student life

There is no gain saying that Canada tops the list as one of the best countries to live in with 2 Canadian cities (Toronto and Montreal) making the list of top 10 student cities. According to the Economist, Toronto is not only one of the best places to live in the entire world. It is also one of the safest places to live.

2.    Big country with low costs

Despite the high education standards, the cost of studying is comparatively affordable, particularly compared to other popular destinations such as the U.S.A and the U.K.

3.  Ranks high in educational achievement

Canada ranks high in educational achievement. According to the United Nations annual Human Development Report in 2017, more than half of its residents graduate from college. Canada’s International Education Strategy had since had a goal to increase the number of full-time international students to 450,000 by 2022 (This was also mentioned by the Canadian School representative where he hinted they had not yet reached half of that target). The plan also includes retaining students after graduation to work and remain permanent residents afterwards

4.    Easy transition for a study-permit to permanent residence after studies.

Canada has a couple of programs designed to encourage international students to transition to become permanent residents after their studies quite easily. Options like the Post-Graduation Work Permit let graduates stay and work on an open work permit after graduation. This also gives them an opportunity to get some Canadian work experience. As a student, they can work up to 20 hours per week and more during holidays with several part-time jobs on or off-campus.

5.    Renowned for research in several cutting-edge fields and multiculturalism

Canadian universities put a lot of emphasis on research in post-secondary education and high academic standards. Also, according to the Global brief, Canada was the first country to pioneer a formal policy of multiculturalism in the 1970s - a policy which came to be subsequently appropriated by several other countries, including Australia. This way, international students can simply feel at home and not get lost in the crowd.

Although Canada can be considered home with the warmth of its people, the ‘downside’ to Canada for some people is the extreme cold but like the Canadians say, "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." So, prepare in advance!

And there goes my top 5 reasons to study in Canada. What would you like to read? Please let me know in the comments section below.

Also, get your FREE consultation on Canadian schools’ application and visa guidance by sending a message to info@i-excelconsultingng.com OR a WhatsApp call or message to +44 (0)7496854781; +234 (0)806 833 1376

Yours in inspiring educational excellence

Yejide Akiode