天美麻豆

Sorry the answers are out of order!

3. Victoria is 3 hours away from Vancouver, including travel and waiting time between ferries.聽 I wouldn't want to make the commute, I lived on Vancouver Island for several years and making the trip to Vancouver was unenjoyable even once a month, it is also expensive if done regularly, even just taking public transit and walking on to the ferry.

5. There is an Arab community in Victoria, but not nearly as large or well developed as in Vancouver.聽

1. As far as I understand, it is difficult for foreigners to get work in related to their profession (I knew a Russian university teacher working as esthetician , but Royal Rhodes may have some ways of placing students in good work situations.聽 You might be able to get work as as legal secretary or researcher, but I'm not sure what requirements companies might have. Many week educated Canadians have difficulty finding work relating to their education.

2. Accommodations in Victoria are slightly lower than in Vancouver, the further out of either city the less expensive it gets, but housing is expensive in southern British Columbia, a host family might be a good idea, but this is more usual for high school and young university students.聽 One of the mosques in either city might have good contacts for this type of information (or any other house of religion you might prefer)

4. From everything I understand Canadian residency is a long process with a lot of red tape, even for well educated people ready to make an immediate contribution to Canadian society.

I hope this is helpful, good luck!

Hi Mon3em111,

If you're coming to Canada on a study visa then an international student must apply for work permit which will allow you to work off-campus for up to 20 hours per week.



Since the present BC Minimum wage is $10.25 / hr. you could earn at $820.00 per month or more. It is unlikely that you are going to be able to find a job that is going to cover your expenses shown with only 20 working hours per week.

You might want to check the Royal Roads University website and find out about financial assistance that may also be available to you.



Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

PEI Red is absolutely right, the cost and travel time, ferry waits, etc., make living in Vancouver and commuting to Victoria to study out of the question.

You could end up doubling your expected monthly expenses and be digging an even deeper financial hole that you're about to take on now.

You would need a job that pays $37.50 / hr.聽 for the 20 hours per week you will be able to work in order to cover all your living expenses at $3000 / mo. you can believe that just isn't going to happen.

You're going to have to live on a very strict budget, cut your expenses to the very bone and even then with work and maybe financial assistance from the university you may still be looking at taking on some long-term debt such as a student loan.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

PEI & Woodward Many Thanks for your input, i appreciate your kind and swift response.

However, would you please advise that in case that it is defficult to find job with $37.50 / hr, Can make a deal with my Employee to increase the 20h/week as a night shift which shall not effect on my study. Is this idea practically accepted.?

Finally, what is the minimum budget the normal person can live in Victoria ?

Many thanks for your patient.

Warm regards

The British Columbia government has a fairly good cost of living calculator on their website "Cost of living welcome BC". If you search it on the internet it should show up (they using a search engine ending in .CA as you can search only Canadian sites google and bing both gave Canadian options. The site also had a link to average salary info for jobs in BC.

Some rental suites in Victoria include some utilities like hot water, cable TV, heat, but never telephone or electricity. We used to budget around $800 for food and alcohol (2 people) but we like a lot gourmet food, so you can definitely do it less expensively.聽 TV can be as little as $50, but starts getting more expensive when you add internet etc. Cell phones are expensive in Canada, I had a very basic plan & it cost me $35 a month if I didn't use my phone!

The calculator may be a little depressing as a person earning $20,000 seems like they can't live in town, but Victoria is a university town and has quite a few non-standard living options like room rentals, visiting house, basement suites, people looking for room mates etc. (I w pulls budget an additional $1000 on to of transportation, medical coverage and housing.) I'm not sure how BC views medical coverage if you're living there on a student visa or temporary work visa, but there will be information on the BC government website.

I believe the cost of living calculator takes food budget and perhaps utilities in to consideration, son that final expense category would be for unusual expenses, like medication, entertainment etc.

The work permit would only allow a maximum 20 hours per week.

Many thanks for your advice..