How easy is it for a Yank to attend grad school in Canada?

Question

I'm of working-poor class; too much income (on paper, anyway) to get financial aide, so I'm reliant on loans while finishing my undergrad degree. Can US loan programs be used for study in Canada? Are there hidden expenses for US students? Are we eligible for fellowships and/or TA/RA positions, or do Canadians get first preference?

Answer 1

Well I can tell you that in grad school we get a minimum stipend (pay) that we have to be given...in Canada it's mostly between $18,000 and 21,000 per year for Masters and about $2000 more for PhD. This money comes out of your supervisor's research funds, TAing and the department. Your tuition is payed out of that money. Now, I believe because you're american you have to pay international fees which are about 3 times the regular tuition (about $13,000), HOWEVER no matter what...if you get accepted into grad school you will get the stipend and you will be able to TA.
If you can apply for a scholarship (NSERC, OGS, CIHR, etc etc...depending on your field of study), most universities will give you an extra bonus ontop of what your stipend is. For example, you get an NSERC scholarship (which is $19,000), the university will give you an extra $6000 on top of that (since they don't have to pay you your stipend).
I'm sure if you got a loan in the US you could use it here...but you'd have to double check on that.
And NO, Canadians don't get first preference for anything...my school has a designated amount of spots for canadian and international grad students...I believe there's about 20 spots for canadians and 5 for international (now that's including all of Asia which most students come from)...but your advantage is that english is your first language (i'm guessing).
Hope that helps!

Answer 2

you can still use money from a US loan program in Canada, but you can't really access it, it would be easier to get one from Canada.

Funny. You want to go to Canada for an education, and I want to go the States for an education and live there (I'm Canadian), wish we could swap places lol!