I was born in Canada and moved to the states at the age of 9. In anticipation for our college search, I applied to get my daughter’s Canadian Citizenship, She did get it and was just accepted to Concordia for the fall 2021 as a Canadian Citizen.
The finances are a concern although I am trying to make this work. From the conversations I have had with the Financial office @ Concordia, under the Canadian Citizen status, the only thing my daughter qualifies for is direct/indirect student loans capped at $5500 per year. Because of this status she does not qualify for US grants&scolarships. The only way to pay for the cost($25,000Ca/$17,000US) is though loans. She also does not qualify for Canadian loans…grants…ect.( I think??)
I know the cost of college is all relative to your own circumstances-$17,000 is a lot as a single mom. We are getting college packages under $6000 per year. I don’t want to give up on Concordia yet.
I want to make sure we have exhausted all avenues to make it work. Does anyone have any experiences keeping the cost down? Would appreciate your input.
Also want to add, it was really challenging getting my daughter her Canadian Citizenship. I adopted her from China as a US citizen. I did find a reputable lawyer in Toronto. Because of our circumstances, it took (2) years.
He is awesome.
Montreal is such a beautiful city. I want to give it my all to open this door for my daughter. I would appreciate ant feedback
In my experience with Ontario schools, my child didn’t get an assessment until partway through their first term. As well, it became very difficult a couple of years ago, when the government changed the rules, requiring a Canadian income tax filing. Ultimately we gave up on applying.
Thank you for your reply.We are weighing the pros/cons of this decision.It is so tricky with income tax.At some point the cons may just outweigh the pros.
Was your daughter born outside of Canada? Has she spent a cumulative total of less than 3 months living in Canada since she was born? If so then she would qualify for the Quebec in province tuition rate. I’m not familiar with Concordia but the McGill site says this: Situation 8 | Legal Documents - McGill University
Contrary to what @bouders stated at least some Canadian universities, McGill for example, do offer need and merit based aid to American and other international applicants. I am not sure about Concordia.
@TomSrOfBoston I should have said the “main source” of need-based financial aid is the provincial governments. Merit aid from universities is usually in the range of a one time $1K-$2K payment.
Thank you for your advise, this is very valuable also for me and my daughter. She is born outside of Canada. We will visit McGill this summer - entering Canada for the first time. We planned to visit a relative in Toronto. Do you think based on this criteria 8- we should not leave the province of Quebec at all, or its ok if we go for 1 week in another province? Thanks so much