Admission to a Canadian university after high school. Our client's story

Studying in Canada offers a chance to get a quality education and permanent residence in one of the world's leading countries. If you're considering sending your child to study in Canada, we highly recommend reading Lisa's story!

Lisa is 18 years old and enrolled in a Canadian educational institution in Toronto right after finishing high school. After her arrival in Canada, we met with her, and she shared her experience, from preparing for admission to living independently in Canada.

English Language for Admission

Preparing documents for university admission and visa application began when Lisa was 17 and still in high school, as the admission process can start before receiving a diploma.

Studying in Canada requires a fairly high level of English. At the beginning of 10th grade, Lisa started working with a tutor, and by the end of 11th grade, she had reached a B1-B2 level.

"I had some basic knowledge, I could at least speak, so I wasn't too worried about it," Lisa says.

But language skills alone aren't enough — you need to prove your knowledge. You can do this by providing results from international language tests or a certificate of language preparation.

Lisa completed an English course at ILAC Language School. The minimum requirement was 8 weeks, but she took extra classes to be on the safe side.

"I quickly started understanding even students from China and Japan," Lisa recalls.

She enjoyed and found her ILAC studies useful, especially because there was no stress during the learning process. Tests were conducted every two weeks, giving students several attempts to achieve the required level. In addition to tests, students are constantly divided into small groups and have to actively participate in discussions.

Finding Housing in Canada and Travel

Before moving, Lisa knew little about Canada. Her mother, on the other hand, actively researched all aspects of life in the country: watching videos and reading articles, including those on Immigrant.Today. During her studies, Lisa realized that Canada is a multicultural and friendly country with an interesting history.

Lisa is very grateful to her mother for helping with countless tasks related to moving and finding housing. Her mother carefully thought through all the details: finding accommodation close to the college, with suitable conditions and all necessities nearby, coordinating move-in with arrival, figuring out how to get from the airport, and so on.

Thanks to this, everything went very smoothly. Lisa arrived in Canada early in the morning, was met at the airport, and taken to the dormitory. Even before the flight, her mother managed to meet a woman traveling on the same flights as Lisa, so during the layover and upon arrival, Lisa was with her.

Passport control in Canada went quite quickly. The officer asked about the amount of money brought, any declarable items, purpose of visit, and destination. Lisa was also asked to provide her college acceptance letter.

Lisa settled in a dormitory. She had a private room, as well as a shared living room, bathroom, and kitchen for two people. This accommodation cost $375 CAD per week, plus a one-time cleaning fee of about $100 CAD.

Most dormitories are oriented towards long-term rentals, with many having a minimum stay of 4 months. Rooms are rented out very quickly, so it's necessary to search and book them in advance. Later, Lisa moved to another dormitory that was closer to her school and more affordable.

Lisa misses her family and friends. The time difference creates difficulties in communication, but Lisa still keeps in constant touch with her loved ones and hopes to visit them during winter break.

Lost Luggage

"There's a saying — you think it won't be you, but it will be you," Lisa comments on the situation she found herself in right after arriving in Canada.

At the airport, Lisa discovered that one of her suitcases was missing. Fortunately, she and her mother had thoughtfully distributed items equally between two suitcases, so she wasn't left without essential items. Both suitcases also had her name and email address written on them. Lisa filed a search report, and within a couple of days, the lost luggage was delivered directly to her place of residence.

Studying in Canada

Lisa chose to study programming because she had been in an engineering class in high school and enjoyed studying computer science. She considers the IT field to be profitable and in demand.

In the Canadian education system, Lisa likes the ability to create her own schedule, choosing convenient times and days for classes. Additionally, her college has a trial period of two to three weeks, allowing students to understand if a particular subject, teacher, and class format suit them. After the trial period, the final schedule for the semester is set.

Lisa also likes that there aren't many non-core subjects. The focus is on disciplines directly related to the specialty. Students first cover the material and then do lab work on it each week.

At the end of the semester, some subjects require completing a project. This can be done individually, in a small group, or in pairs. For example, in the first semester, students had to create a simple game, make a presentation, and write a report.

Most of the work is done in class, so there's little homework. However, this is rather exceptional, as often studying in Canada involves a lot of independent work at home.

Lisa's group includes people of different ages and nationalities.

"In Russia, you more or less study with people your own age, and you're always used to, well, I'm 17 — they're 17, or I'm 20 — they're 20, but here there's absolutely no age limit, and people from different countries look different at different ages. I really can't tell how old anyone is," Lisa shares.

Overall, Lisa had high hopes for Canadian education, but it's not all perfect. For example, she had a conflict with one teacher. The problem was quickly resolved because Lisa contacted the student service that helps students with various issues.

The service contacted the college director and arranged an online meeting with Lisa so she could voice her position. The director promised to look into the situation, and after that, Lisa had no problems with the teacher.

Living Expenses

Lisa moved from her first dormitory to a more budget-friendly one, where the rent is $250 CAD per week. She complains about high food expenses. Many products in Canada are sold in large packages, which she doesn't need living alone.

Moreover, Lisa doesn't particularly enjoy cooking, often goes to cafes, and buys coffee outside, which leads to additional expenses. She can spend up to $1,000 CAD per month on food, but usually tries to keep it within $700 CAD.

To keep track of her expenses, Lisa uses an Excel spreadsheet where she records all her spending. She recommends keeping receipts to enter information about expenses into the spreadsheet or a specialized app either immediately or at the end of the week.

Lisa spends $51 CAD per month on mobile phone service. Her subway expenses are minimal since the college is a 40-minute walk away, and she tries to get there on foot.

For entertainment expenses, Lisa only has a Netflix subscription. The cheapest option costs $7 CAD per month, with more expensive plans at $12 CAD and $26 CAD. She has also attended a couple of concerts and performances in Canada.

Help with Moving to Canada

Despite all her fears and worries, Lisa decided to move to an unfamiliar country alone and is bravely dealing with all life's challenges. Our team wishes her good luck, successful completion of her studies, and quick obtainment of permanent residency after graduation! We're confident that Lisa will succeed in all her endeavors.

If you also want to get a Canadian education, which is valued worldwide, or if you're considering the path to Canadian permanent residency through studies, contact us for assistance, and we'll do everything possible to help you achieve your dream.

We handle the entire process of admission and visa application. We start with an initial consultation where we assess your chances of getting a student visa, discuss strategies to improve your approval odds, and answer your questions.

Then, we help you choose a suitable university and program, submit documents for enrollment, and after approval, apply for the visa. If your English level isn't sufficient, we can enroll you in online classes at a Canadian language school while your visa is being processed. Throughout the entire process, we stay in touch with you, answer your questions, and help with any difficulties that may arise.