INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
By Roger Bartholomew

Roger Bartholomew spends his life talking with students - both as a teacher and as a counselor. His position as president of International Education Specialists, Chairman of Southville Foreign University and Director/Teacher at Southville International School all involve listening to students and parents and advising them on their studies and careers. He is a frequent speaker in schools, colleges, universities, public forums and focus groups. He can be reached at rogerb@inter-ed.com.

WELCOME TO A NEW LIFE IN CANADA!

Last Month’s article was about Canada and the opportunity it presented for education, employment and migration. I received a huge number of responses e-mailed to me on ccpc@inter-ed.com and many of those who contacted me attended the promised seminar at the AIM conference Center on April 25th. So many people signed up for the seminar that we had to run it three times to be able to accommodate everybody! I would like to share with you the information that was given at the seminar, as it was extremely interesting.

The seminar kicked off with a cost comparison of Education, Health, Cost of Living and Wages between the Philippines and Canada. Here are some of the numbers:

The Cost of Education in Canada – (tuition fees & misc)

This is a comparison of the difference in cost between paying international fees and local fees in Canadian High Schools and Universities. These figures were sourced from the Canadian Federation of Students and are based on the cost of a business degree. Bear in mind that a Bachelors degree is four years of study in BC, Alberta and Manitoba and three years in all Provinces East (e.g. Ontario, Quebec).

		International	Canadian
Grade School/High School		CAD$18,000	FREE
University	UBC Toronto Simon Fraser McGill University Ottawa University Uni of Alberta McMaster Uni Uni of Manitoba Uni of Winnipeg	CAD$22,900 CAD$22,600 CAD$18,800 CAD$18,500 CAD$18,200 CAD$16,100 CAD$15,600 CAD$  9,400 CAD$  3,994	CAD$4,500 CAD$4,600 CAD$3,800 CAD$3,400 CAD$3,360 CAD$2,980 CAD$3,050 CAD$3,994 CAD$3,994
	Literacy Rate		99%
	GDP spent on education		5.2%
	Exchange Rate		CAD$1.00 = P40.00

The Cost of Education in the Philippines (tuition fees & misc)

Comparisons were also made with the cost of Health Care, Cost of Living and Comparative Wages for employees. This was the summary:

LIVING IN CANADA vs PHILIPPINES

1. Canadian Salaries are 9.4x higher than the Philippines.
2. Cost of living, housing and consumer goods in Canada is only 2.8x higher than the Philippines and electricity is cheaper
3. Health Care in Canada is FREE. In the Phils health care costs 18% of family income. Giving birth is FREE, Health Care after 65 is still FREE.
4. Education in Canada is FREE at Primary and Secondary Level and costs the same as the Phils at University level. In Canada education costs 5.2% of the family budget, in the Phils 26.8%.
5. WHY WAIT? MOVE NOW! MR. DALE THOMPSON WILL TELL YOU HOW!

And Mr. Thompson did tell them how! He explained that there are now effectively four routes into Canada for migration:

• Investor
• Skilled worker
• Already in Canada on a Student Visa or already in Canada on a Work Visa
• Arranged Employment

The investor visa is expensive and ties your money up for a long time. The skilled worker has only 38 categories of skills (very specific and restrictive) and still has many additional requirements which are very difficult to meet – and takes 3 – 5 years to process. The study option is quite expensive (as per the cost of international studies shown above). However the Arranged Employment is quick (9 -12 months processing time), effective (applications do not get turned down), and cost effective (costs about the same to process as one year of university studies). The brilliant news is that it costs exactly the same to process a married adult with three children who are under 22 year old and who all need school, college or university education as it does to process a single person who wants to go for a complete change of environment. Take careful note though, that this program is NOT available for the Province of Ontario!

One of the questions asked was, “do we need to have show money”, and the answer was “NO” because you will be arriving to arranged employment and therefore an immediate source of income. Another question was about age limit, and effectively the program is viable for people up to their mid-50s. Health Care was a big attraction to many people as the cost of Health Insurance and hospital costs is very high in the Philippines and generally is not available to those over retirement age. In Canada it is free, even after retirement age.

If this has caught your attention and is the possible answer to your future, please e-mail me at ccpc@inter-ed.com or text me on 0918-912-5191 and I will set up an appointment for you for free counseling with Mr. Dale Thompson who is a Canadian Government Certified Immigration Consultant (this means that his services are covered by Canadian insurance to protect his clients) to discuss your circumstances and eligibility and to answer all your questions about the program and the exact costs involved. Note that even friends and relatives who are overseas (e.g. USA, Middle East) may be eligible for this program even if they are out of status and you may inquire on their behalf.