Studying at the University of Toronto

Saida, you study statistics and economics. Tell us a little about your program and learning process.

Basically, university studies here in North America are structured as follows:

In the first year, you do not have to choose a program. You can study anything and decide on the second course. Personally, in my first year I taught economics and philosophy.

Further, when you decide on your program, you yourself find on the site a list of items that you need to take. Approximately 35-60% of the subjects are required, and the rest you choose yourself, depending on the program. Thus, many students study for 5 years as they change programs.

Almost all faculties have a student exchange program. Like everything at our universities, you must plan, show interest and submit a request yourself. If you want to stay in Canada after studying, do not forget that for this you need to stay in Canada for a certain number of days. It is important to think about this before applying for studies outside of Canada.

Scheduled internships, such as coop, are only available for certain programs (engineering, IT, etc.). For my program, there is no way to study one semester and work another. However, you can easily find a job and an internship for the summer or part-time while studying on your own. In Canada, you can work while studying. For example, I worked as an intern at the Canadian Pension Investment Fund all summer 2018. You can also learn more about this on my channel.

It turns out that for 4 years of life in Canada you managed not only to learn, but also to work. Tell me, is it easy for a foreign student to find work in Canada, and is it possible to make good money in their free time?

Whoever wants will always find. Of course, you will not get the job of a manager right away. There is very high competition for all positions.

My first job was in the summer after my first year. I worked as a sales assistant in a clothing store. Even for this work, I went through 2 rounds of interviews and waited a full month for an answer. I think I was taken to this position due to the fact that I speak several languages.

In general, you should understand that everyone is studying here and starting to work almost from the age of 16. In order to compete with them, you need to show your feature. You must also convince the employer that you are ready to work better and harder than everyone else.

The only problem is that foreign students can only work up to 20 hours a week while studying, so not every employer will want to put up with such a tight time limit. During the holidays you can work an unlimited number of hours.