Affordable Masters in Canada – A Guide for 2023 | Scholarships Info

The number of foreign postgraduate students applying to Canada for their Masters program keeps increasing steadily over the years. So, if you are considering your Masters in Canada, you are making a good choice, have no fear. Canada has a good reputation among foreign students and all over the world.

Canada is a very friendly country that is home to such pristine wilderness, beautiful sceneries, top-world class universities and good economy. What’s not to love? Canada is a key player in higher education and is well recognized globally. Up to 190,000 foreign students are in Canada for their Masters.

Masters Degree is also called “Grad School” or simply “Grad Program” in Canada. And generally, Masters come in either Masters of Arts (MA) or Masters of Science (MSc). There are also specialist Masters programs in specific subjects like Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Masters of Fine Arts(MFA), Master of Engineering (MEng). Usually, Masters programs in Canada last from one year to two years. In addition to these years, students might need to go for Internship and placements in addition.

Students will receive the usual lectures and tutorials from lecturers and tutors. In addition, Masters program also usually includes interactive teaching sessions for example group work, group projects, site visits and more. Also, Masters program usually have a dissertation or a consultancy project and this usually makes up a huge percentage of the total course credits.

The academic year for the Masters program usually runs from September every year and ends in April. The start dates for Masters program might not necessarily start in September because different universities and educational institutions pick different dates to start their academic session. A Christmas break is usually given in December after which students return to school and write exams typically by April.

There are a number of Canadian universities that offer the Co-operative Education option for Masters programs. The Co-op program’s purpose is to help the Masters students gain relevant work experience and paid opportunities in industries, firms and placements that are similar to the students’ fields.

The Co-op opportunity is available for all courses and disciplines and helps the students gain relevant and important contacts, connections and experience. Many employers use this co-op program as a recruitment tool since they know the students’ ability already. These Co-op Internships for Masters are usually paid and lasts for 2-4 months usually.

In order to be part of this valuable co-op program, the student must register as a co-op student and there are requirements like High GPA at the time of application, compulsory attendance of training sessions, etc. Once the student has been accepted into the co-op coordinator on new opportunities available in their field to apply for. Although, as a foreign student, you might need to or rather you will have to apply for a  co-op work permit.

It is common knowledge that compared to the United States and the UK, tuition fees in Canadian tertiary institutions are very affordable. The same thing goes for their Masters program tuition fees. Overall, the range for tuition fees for Masters in Canada is between $13,000 CAD and $20,500 CAD for many of the disciplines. If you will convert those figures to US Dollars, then the tuition fees range from USD $9,966 – $15,715. Disciplines under the Architecture, Business, Medicine and Dentistry fields tend to have higher tuition fees while the Arts and Humanities fields have lower tuitions. Also, local and indigenous Canadian students pay around half of the tuition fee that foreign students pay.

There are many funding opportunities and scholarships that postgraduates from overseas can apply for, both by the individual universities and the government. Many of these scholarships are aimed at attracting quality foreign postgraduates to Canada. So, a little research should help you find some of them.

Many Canadian universities usually require a minimum GPA of either 3.0 or 4.0 or the international equivalent of the UK’s Second Class Upper Bachelors in the undergraduate degree. The specific minimum GPA needed for the university you are applying to will be stated on their website. Also, depending on your discipline, you might need to provide a GET score(Graduate Entry Test) like the GRE(Graduate Record Examination) or the GMAT(Graduate Management Admission Test). Do visit your preferred institution’s website for their exact academic requirements.

You will need to provide results of your English Language Proficiency test either IELTS or TOEFL as a foreign student if English is not your first language. Just as this is necessary when applying for Bachelors so is it important for Masters. If you applied for a bilingual Masters program or purely French courses, you will need to show your proficiency in French language too.

The application process for your Masters in Canada is very similar to that of other countries of the world. The following documents will be required of you to submit for your application. They are;

Apart from all these six documents listed above, there are some other things you might need to settle or provide. If you had your Bachelors or Post secondary education outside Canada, then you will need to submit the credentials for evaluation. Usually, you will need to pay the fee for International Credential Evaluation. This procedure is necessary in order to verify the authenticity of your academic credential.

Once all the necessary documentations are ready, and you have submitted your application, you can then await your Admission Letter. If your application was successful after review by the Central Office and the School Faculty, you will be sent your Letter of Admission. This Letter of Admission is one of the required documents you need to apply for a student visa or a scholarship.

Before you can be authorized to enter Canada legally for studies, you will need to apply for Study Permit. There is a whole list of documents to submit (including your Admission Letter) and processes to follow to apply for Study Permit or Student Visa. You can visit www.canada.ca for more information on Study Permit Application.

So, all in all, we sincerely hope that we have given you enough lowdown on applying for Masters in Canada.