Postgraduate in Canada

[sean77]

hello..im currently a degree holder from a local university and i plan to get some work experience here before leaving to canada to pursue a masters in engineering..

i would like ask what are the recommended universities for engineering courses? how long are foreign students allowed to stay there to work upon completion of their course? is it hard for foreigners to get an engineering job there?

anyone doing postgrad in canada can give me some advice?

thanksss

[hhhcce]

Hey there. There are plenty of opportunities if you were to do your postgraduate in Canada. Being a undergraduate in one of the Canadian Universities, I would say the research atmosphere is very conducive (or at least in my university). I am not sure whether you can stay here after graduation but I think recently the Ministry of Canada has recently amended the immigration policy. As far as I know, if you are hired upon graduation, you are allowed to work here; but, again I am not sure on how long you can work here. So, I think a trip to Canadian Embassy would be extremely helpful.

As for recommended university, it really depends on what are you doing right now. If you an E&E engineer or a computer or software engineer, then Waterloo is definitely one of the best place in Canada, if not the world, to do your postgraduate. If you are a biomedical engineer, then McGill would be the best place to go. Other specialisations such as chemical, mechanical, etc, as long as you stick with UBC, McGill, Toronto and Waterloo, it would be fine.

As for your information, I think you are going to do Master in a Canadian university right? Then, I think you should opt for McGill (not that I am promoting McGill) because the Ministry of Education Quebec has recently lowered the tuition fee for international students(only for graduate school). So, the tuition fee now is about 1500CAD a year(rough estimate again). And, I think it is quite affordable if you think of it.

[sean77]

thanks for the useful information...by the way i plan to pursue M Sc in energy related courses (renewable/o&g etc) ..currently a mech engineer

are there many job opportunities especially for foreigners?

[hhhcce]

I am not quite sure about that. But, unlike Malaysia, in Canada it really depends on how good you are compared to the locals. I would say, if you really want to get a job here, you must be really good at something so that they would hire you instead of the locals. I know my answers are really vague because I am not sure what it is like to work in Canada.

[tomatoinc]

renewable energy research = mcgill or UBC.

if you re graduates of canadian universities, the job opportunity is equal (hence doesn't matter whether you re foreigner or not).

i d like to add...equal means, as hhhcce said, you need to prove that you re just as good, if not better than anyone else they could hire. (you need to include the cost of having you as migrant worker to the firm), hence either request for lower rate or prove that you are more able in terms of performance.

[sean77]

thanks for the info hhhcce, will find out more information online

tomatoinc, what about universities like calgary and alberta?

[tomatoinc]

Originally Posted by sean77

thanks for the info hhhcce, will find out more information online

tomatoinc, what about universities like calgary and alberta?

mcgill n ubc have pretty good reps in terms of research/reputation in that area. and i forgot to add =- you cannot go wrong with u-toronto..da biggest uni in canada.

i don't know much about calgary..no contacts there. U alberta is pretty good too, and quite well known among canadians. alberta is at edmonton though...a smallish town

[sean77]

thanks hhhcce and tomatoinc for the information...really appreciate it

been away quite some time...and recently joined a new company...anyway, would like to ask you guys/girls this question. i know that there are quite many asians studying in canada..so i would like to ask majority of them are of which nationality? m'sians? singaporeans? japanese? koreans? hks?

[tomatoinc]

my friend in toronto told me that there are more asians in toronto city center than da caucasians. hahaha. so, have a guess. I think there are plenty of everyone there...maybe hkies/mainlanders?