Posidrive

Just saw a horrifying article that implied that in some parts of Canada if you are working on a temporay work permit that you have to pay for you childs tuition even in publicly funded schools. Up to $10000 per year.

Is this true in Alberta?

PMM

Hi

Each school district has it own policy on the cost of education for foreign students, you would have to contact the one where you intend to live.

PMM

Judy in Calgary

No, at least not insofar as the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is concerned.

I have just spoken on the phone with a woman at the Riverside Reception Centre at 711 - 2 Avenue NE, Calgary (telephone 403-777-7373). That is the office that handles admission of students from outside the province.

The woman said that the CBE does charge a tuition fee of $10,000 a year to an international student. An international student typically comes to Canada to study on his/her own, and typically is not accompanied by a parent.

If you enter Canada on a work permit, the CBE will provide to your biological children who accompany you the same level of educational services that they provide to local children, and they will do so at the same cost. That is, except for some extra little fees that you will be charged here and there, the government essentially will foot the bill for your children's primary and secondary education.

When you arrive, you'll need to contact the Riverside Reception Centre, and make an appointment. When you and your family members meet the staff there, your children will be assessed, and the Centre will determine which grade levels would be the closest matches for your children. The woman said that, since children from the UK are English-speaking, the amount of testing that is performed on them at the Centre is minimal. More extensive testing is performed on children for whom English is a second language.

When you attend the interview, you should bring with you your work permit and your children's birth certificates and passports. An important document to bring is the visa that indicates the names of the accompanying children. The woman said that children were not always named on the visa of the parent who had the work permit. She said they often were named on the visitor's visa of the accompanying spouse.

Anyway, all those other instructions are details. The main point is that, at least in the case of Calgary's public (i.e., government funded) school system, your children will receive a government funded education.

But then, as PMM has indicated, if you intend to live somewhere other than Calgary, you would need to find out the policy of the relevant school board.

Calgal

Judy - that's interesting! I just spoke to someone at the CBE about foreign students of parents here on a work permit, and was told that there is a fee of $10,500 plus an application fee of $250. Is your information saying that Posidrive wouldn't have to pay that much - but just the same as other Canadian residents/citizens?

brit_in_fizroy

I was here (Ottawa) on a TWV, my kids had Student Visas, My wife had a visitors visa. This lasted 2 years until we got PR. Never paid tuition fees but did pay TAXES. As long as you are a resident (not PR) and pay your local, prov and fed taxes in Canada, I don't see why you should have to pay. Remember, you are a resident and say that when you put your kids into school.

Judy in Calgary

Yes, Calgal, the woman with whom I spoke on the phone definitely said that Posidrive's kids wouldn't have to pay the $10,000 or so that the Calgary Board of Education charges international students. As I mentioned, the woman with whom I spoke was located at Riverside Reception Centre, which processes students who come to Calgary from outside of Alberta. The phone number there is (403) 777-7373.