<p>I hear that Canada is a little strange in terms of immigration in that on one hand it’s actually considered to be more difficult to immigrate to Canada than the U.S., but on the other, that changes rapidly in the case of individuals with advanced degrees. (Eg. unless a refuge, it’s difficult to immigrate to Canada WITHOUT a degree.) So a well-educated U.S. student has at least a decent shot at immigrating to Canada, while a well-educated Canadian student has about an equal shot with a uneducated non-english speaking immigrant without means in terms of the immigration green card lottery. (It’s an actual lottery, drawn randomly. I know folks who’ve been on this list for almost 10 years.) There are exceptions - persons of high net worth who are purchasing a business or will be self-employed can secure status more speedily, and certain types of “talented” individuals can access status pretty easily. For a top performing musician, artist, or widely published writer, it IS possible to secure the PR – but of course, few kids in undergrad programs meet those kind of ‘mature established career’ criteria.</p>
<p>There are limitations to the TN1 Visa (and it IS quota based, and often exhausted), and one has to be careful not to be out of the country or work for extensive periods in other countries or the visa can be easily rescinded, and you NEVER know from one year to the next if it will renew. (True of HB1 as well.) I spent 4 years as a NAFTA-based L1A, which is similar in status to the TN1 (but more paperwork), but applies in the case of business ownership of two companies in the US and Canada respectively. NAFTA-based permission to be in the US is a PITA, IMHO ;)</p>
<p>Conceptually, in my original post, I was referring to the sought-after Permanent Residency status, which would enable a composer to work freelance without any legal or double taxation issues, and enable same to also work abroad for short periods without losing status.</p>
<p>Status becomes important in terms of things such as medical insurance, life insurance, mortgages, car loans, estate matters, inheritance, trusts, etc. </p>
<p>As a small business owner and employer, I will say that I would be reluctant to go out of my way to hire a Canadian (even though I am a Canadian national) because it adds at least $15,000 - $20,000 to my acquisition cost of the employee by the time all the various lawyering is done. I know this first hand 
There’s no real shortage of candidates at the level of my particular need.</p>
<p>My fear for arts & music students is that unless they’re desirable to a large corporation with a robust HR / legal department, the field for competition in terms of employment would be stacked against them.</p>
<p>Back in Canada I had an associate who had gone to California for her undergrad and masters. Eventually she discovered that it was truly not possible to continue working and living in the US (as anything other than a nanny paid under the table) so she eventually returned to Canada and started a small business, but lost the benefit of the network she’d developed in California.</p>
<p>Another friend was “forced” as a child to accompany her mother to an ashram in the U.S., where she never achieved status, and ergo could never drive, have health coverage, etc. etc. (She came back to Canada for university and has remained )</p>
<p>These are the types of things worth considering. In my son’s case, he could have easily gone back to Canada for school, and was sorely tempted, (as were we, financially speaking) but Michigan was his first choice in his discipline for a number of reasons, and now he’s quite delighted with the contacts he’s made. He is fortunate in that he will be able to work ultimately in either country (AFTER becoming a citizen, that is, otherwise less than 6 mos. away to maintain even Permanent status…) </p>
<p>This is likely waaaay more detail than is useful to the original poster, but these are the kinds of things it’s better to find out about BEFORE making a major relocation to another country, even if it’s “only” for school.</p>
<p>I realize that academically, McGill, UT, Western and UBC are all “reaches” if they still consider his HS GPA, but am hopeful that being a mature student would mitigate that as a problem.</p>
<p>One other thing I forgot to add: Check out Humber College in Toronto. Not sure about composition but a friend’s son is in their contemporary program and sure did a lot of scoring for film! I’ve heard nothing but good things about the program, and since it’s college level as opposed to university, my hunch would be there might not be any issue over the HS GPA.</p>
<p>BTW, Vdad - that’s interesting to know re: in-state reciprocity! Without unduly encouraging anyone, what are the states that do that? (Michigan doesn’t, but probably should because boatloads of Ontario kids always want to go there Then again, maybe that’s WHY Michigan doesn’t do it!</p>