Applying as a family in Canada - Tips to aspiring international students
Length of program
If you are a family of three or more, I always recommend safety first. Meaning a two year program is always only the sensible option. A two year program will give you three years of pgwp whereas a one year program will give you only one year of pgwp. Being a family, you need to be cautious of this. A one year program is cheaper but the amount of stress you will have to endure with a 1 year pgwp can be immense. So save yourself from the stress and plan for a two year program.
School for your kids
School for your children will be free - from gradeschool to highschool to K12. The school where your children will attend will depend on your location or your home address. Each province will have different school districts. You will have to connect with each school district to identify which school your child will attend. For example, here in New Brunswick - you can go to this website:
http://web1.nbed.nb.ca/sites/ASD-S/Pages/InternationalStudents.aspx
Connect with the school and ask them what documents they need in order to enrol your child. This therefore means that you have to have an apartment first before you finalise the school of your child.
Housing
If you are a family of 3 or 4 , a 2 BR apartment is sensible. The cost of apartment wildly vary from city to city, and province to province. For example here in New Brunswick, youd get a 2 BR for an average of CAD1200 to 1300 / month. You can never get the same deal in Toronto or in Calgary or Edmonton. CAD1200 will only be a 1BR or worst in Toronto it will only be a studio. You have to budget for advance and deposit payments. Your deposit is generally refundable under some terms and conditions. It is common that the rent contract is for one year. If you are not able to finish one year then you will have to find a renter to take over your contract if not, then you will breach the contract and so may cause for you not to get your deposit back. The normal wear and tear of the apartment is the obligation of the landlord , for example leaks in the pipes, problems with the heating system, or if any part of the apartment needs renovation. If the damage is caused by you for example - you hit the wall by accident which resulted in a hole - then you have to pay for it. Otherwise, all the normal wear and tear are responsibilities of the landlord.
To those who plan to buy a house , the housing market across Canada is cooling down since 2023. Here in New Brunswick, The average cost of houses in New Brunswickl in 2023 is 279K$. There is no way you could buy a house in Alberta with just 279K$. In Alberta, one of the cheapest community is Medicine Hat which even then is still more expensive than here in New Brunswick. In Ontario - the average price of a house is 881K which is one of the worst in Cnada together with Vancouver. In BC, the average price of a house is 986K. Housing takes the most chunk of our money. If you rent all your life, it is the same as throwing away money. Rent always goes up. And therefore, if you keep on renting you will only increase your rent cost and then at the end of the day you do not build wealth. My point is, you have to be smart with your choice of province.
Jobs
This is probably 50% of the main concern of parents - jobs and the capability of the parents to cover the cost of living with the wage. OWP can work full time while students work part time. Wage and cost of living vary immensely from province to province. The cost of living in Toronto is so more expensive than in Moncton. But the wage in New Brunswick is lower than in Ontario. New Brunswick has a higher taxation ratecompared to other provinces in Canada. Here in the Atlantic, there is a dire need for workers which is one of the main reasons why the government is lenient with international students. There are more people retiring than people entering the workforce. The government here in the Atlantic comes up with various PR Pathways for international students to motivate students to stay , work and live here in the region permanently.
My rule is, at the end of the day the main goal is Permanent Residency for the family. Even if a certain province has lower taxation and more jobs but does not offer options for PR - then why go there? Always choose a province that will welcome you through PR Pathway options.
