Over the past few years, various countries emerged out as popular study abroad destinations among international students. Two of those acing up within the race are Canada and therefore the USA. Though both US and Canada are dream destinations for college kids who aspire to accumulate education abroad, in recent times Canada has overtaken the US. a couple of the main contributing factors that students prefer Canada over US are speedy processing times for study permits, easy immigration, and lower costs.

The controversies around US F1 visa freeze amidst of COVID-19 pandemic resulted within the ultimate hit to the amount of scholars applying to review within the USA. Though the choice was revoked, the changes in H1-B student visa policies also affected the influx of international students to USA. Canada, on the opposite hand, didn’t experience and such a drastic change within the number of international students choosing education with them.

Visa Policy

As already known, the U.S visa application system is a particularly lengthy and sophisticated process that needs great scrutiny and many of waiting. as compared , the Canadian visa application process is comparatively simpler and shorter which inspires international students to review in Canada.

In addition, Canadian universities allow international students to remain back in Canada for employment opportunities. The Post-Graduation working papers allows international students to remain up to 3 years after graduating from a post-secondary Canadian institution, counting on their course duration. On the opposite hand, as an F-1 visa holder, international students within the US are allowed to remain back to finish up to at least one year of temporary employment directly associated with their major field of study.

During Optional Practical Training (OPT), international students can get a one-year work and stay-back permit after completion of a degree within the USA.

Eligibility Criteria

Though the admission process and therefore the eligibility criteria that international students got to fulfill for getting an education from the US and Canada are similar, yet there are certain major differences that make it slightly easier to urge into Canadian universities than US universities.

• Years of Education Required: To pursue a bachelor’s in US and Canada, you want to have completed your high school and 12th with good academic scores. For masters courses, applicants must have a minimum of 16 years of education, for studying in Canada also as USA. this suggests having a four-year bachelor’s education.
• Entrance Exams Required to review Bachelors: For studying bachelors within the USA, international applicants must appear for SAT or ACT exam. However, for pursuing bachelor’s courses in Canada SAT/ACT scores aren’t mandatorily required.
• Entrance Exams Required to review Masters: to review for masters within the USA applicants must mandatorily have appeared for the GRE exam. Though it’s not required for all the schools , most of the US universities invite GRE scores to offer admissions to international students. On the opposite hand, for getting admission to masters in Canada, GRE scores aren’t required. There are only a few courses or universities that invite GRE scores from international students applying for Canadian universities.

Costs & Expenses

The cost of pursuing education in Canada is comparatively less in comparison to how expensive education in US is. the 2 major expenses incurred by international students while studying abroad are tuition fees and living expenses. Given below may be a comparison between study in Canada and study within the USA in terms of costs and expenses.

Financial Aid

Despite the high costs of tuition and living expenses, there are various aid options offered to international students to form their education affordable. However, Canadian universities are more likely to supply aid to international students, which is sort of rare within the us .

Few of the scholarships offered to Indian students studying within the us are:-

• Tata Scholarship for Cornell University: Need-based scholarships offered to Indian UG students at Cornell University. The trust offers around 25 million USD to be awarded to chose students.
• Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarships: the inspiration offers 7.5 million USD funding annually for UG and PG education.
• Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellowships: Merit-based scholarships offered to students pursuing masters and research courses in USA. The award covers tuition fees and basic living expenses.
• In laks Scholarships: Merit-based scholarship offered to pursue education at a number of the US colleges.
• SN Bose Scholarships

Several sorts of scholarships, grants, and bursaries are available for international students who are getting to study in Canada, at undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels.

• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program: Offered at quite 20 universities in Canada, with Vanier scholarships students can avail awards of up to 37,000 USD (50,000 CAD).
• Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships: Offers recipients a gift sum of over 52,000 USD (70,000 CAD).
• Canada Graduate Scholarships- Master’s Program: Offered to masters students at Canadian Universities.
• IDRC Research Awards

Searching for scholarships to review abroad?

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Employment Opportunities

One of the foremost important reasons for studying abroad may be a sizable amount of career opportunities it exposes. In the U.S, the foremost popular professions with the very best salary packages are management executives, medicine, dentist, programmer, finance, advertising, etc. While, on the opposite hand, jobs like program analyst, teacher, financial manager, pharmacist, NP , and construction manager are a number of the foremost coveted occupations in Canada.

One of the benefits Canadian international students have over international students studying within the US is that of Post-Graduation working papers (PGWP). The post-graduation working papers is an integral a part of Canada’s immigration system which allows overseas students to figure in Canada for up to three years after graduation. it’s also a gateway to permanent residence and eventually citizenship

Though jobs in USA offer better salaries, the investment involved in pursuing education is high. Additionally, the probabilities of obtaining a PR and going to stay back in USA are less than that in Canada, which make Canada a preferred destination, regardless of the wage gap.

Standard of Living

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Better Life Index, Canada performs exceptionally well in various measures of well-being as compared to other countries.

• The average household net adjusted income per capita is $30,854 per annum, which is less than the OECD average of $33,604 a year.
• When we mention employment, 73% of individuals between the ages of 15 to 64 have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 68%. Around 76% of men are in paid jobs, compared with 71% of girls.
• Quality education and work-related skills are prerequisites for locating add Canada. Around 91% of adults aged between 25-64 have completed upper education . The stats are well above the OECD average of 78%.
• In terms of health, anticipation at birth in Canada is 82 years, which is 2 years above the OECD average of 80 years. Anticipation for ladies is 84 years, whereas, it’s 80 for men.

Canadians are far more satisfied with their lives than the OECD average. On a scale from 0 to 10, Canadians rate their general satisfaction with life a 7.4 on the average , above the OECD average of 6.5.

Healthcare

Some of the provinces in Canada offer medical coverage for temporary residents like international students. However, within the case of a province that doesn’t offer medical cover to international students, you’ll choose the school’s insurance plan or other private insurance. in comparison with US, the premium rates for personal healthcare are drastically low in Canada. This makes healthcare not only a feasible option for international students but also reduces the general financial burden.

With the low amount of tuition fees, high standard of living, and innumerable career opportunities, it’s safe to assume that Canada has proven itself to be one among the foremost coveted countries for international students.