Study in Canada 2010

Yesterday, 30th January 2010, High Commission of Canada had organised an Education Fair and Mini Education Symposium, which involved the participation of 12 universities:

1. University of British Columbia, British Columbia
2. Capilano University, Britist Columbia
3. Columbia College, British Columbia
4. University of Alberta, Alberta
5. University of Calgary, Alberta
6. University of Lethbridge, Alberta
7. Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Alberta
8. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan
9. Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, Toronto, Ontaria
10. Centennial College, Toronto, Ontario
11. University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick
12. Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland


Language
They have two official languages: English and French. The Eastern side of Canada is more towards French while the Western side is more towards English.

Visa application
When you get an unconditional offer letter from the university you have chosen, you need to:
- fill in the visa application form (http://www.cic.gc.ca/) and print it out
- proof of funding
- parents' income (for self-funding students)
- a cheque of $150 Canadian dollars

Send these documents (including the offer letter) to the High Commission of Canada in Singapore. Then, a medical form will be sent to you and resend it back to Singapore. When everything is fine, they will request for your passport for visa.

This will take 6 weeks to process.

If you have enquiries, you may email them at spore-immigration@international.gc.ca

During the symposium, they mentioned that most universities offer work experiences for students. Students can work on-campus (part-time) and if they have satisfactory grades, they may work off-campus and can work full-time during summer.

Each university did a 20-minutes presentation and here is a brief summary of what they presentated.


Capilano University, British Columbia
Offers 2 years of Diploma. Then, students are eligible to get 3 years of working permit. After that, students may continue for another 2 years of Bachelor degree.

Currently there are 7000 students and 10% consists of international students. Teaching is conducted within small groups of students. Some of the programmes offer are Motion Pictures & Production, Media Arts, Business Administration, Communication and Tourism Management. Internships are also provided here, such as you may work in Sarawak if you are interested in ecotourism.

Capilano Uni also offers transfer programs, in which you may study in Capilano for a few months / years and then, continue to study in other universities in Canada.


Columbia College, British Columbia
This is for students who have completed O level (with an average of grade C) and wish to continue studies in Canada. One route is if you pick 'High School Completion Program', you may enter a 1 yr of 'University Transfer Program' and spend a 2nd year in University of British Columbia for example.

They also offer 'Homestay Program', where international students can stay with Canadian families if they don't want to stay on-campus at the residences.



University of Alberta, Alberta
This university is very good in engineering related courses and energy, geophysics as well as environmental studies. However, a course in Medicine is not opened to international students. Dentistry on the other hand, is.

The application deadline is 1st May 2010
Documents have to be submitted no later than 1st Aug 2010


University of Calgary, Alberta
This university offers 4 years of Bachelor degrees while 3 years only for degrees in Communication.

They require 5 subjects: 2 A level subjects and 3 O level, with an A grade for English. All subjects must be English medium.

Application deadline is on 1st April 2010, together with the submission of an online application form and supporting documents. Application fee is $150 Canadian dollars.


University of Lethbridge, Alberta
This university requires 5 subjects: 2 A level and3 O level subjects, which are of grade C or higher. If students wish to take degree in Nursing and Environmental Science, grade of B or higher is needed.

Since degrees in Nursing and Environmental Science are competitive ones in the university, the application deadline for
Nursing - 1st March 2010
Environmental Science - 1st May 2010
General Admission (Other courses) - 15th May 2010


Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Alberta
SAIT offers 27 diplomas and 4 Applied Bachelor degrees. They provide Home-stay program and Transfer program. The Application fee is $200 Canadian dollars.

For September 2010 entry, the deadline is end of Feb 2010.
For January 2011 entry, the deadline is August 2010.

If students are interested in taking degrees that are Business Studies related, they only require English and Mathematics only. If your subjects are all in English medium, you do not have to take IELTS (6.0). You need to request a letter from your school regarding your English medium subjects.


For more info on other universities, please click onto the names, which can link you to their respective websites.