Seven Things You'll Need To Learn As An International Student In Canada

1. Learn to do all of your household chores by yourself. 

Living alone in Canada requires you to do all household chores by yourself. Learn to keep your room clean, to cook food, to do laundry, to track your expenses, to buy groceries, etc. You won't have parents or maids doing these things for you. Your life will become a lot smoother once you learn to manage all these things. 

2. Learn to cook food and know enough so that you don’t sleep hungry. 

If you know cooking and somehow manage to cook food five days a week, you could probably save around $200-$300 monthly. Eating outside every day would be very expensive. There are plenty of YouTube videos and blogs available on the internet where you can learn the basics. Just try to learn enough so that you don't have to rely on others for food or even sleep hungry where you come back from a long shift. 

3. Accept the fact that you’ll have to deal with all the emotional, financial and relationship stress by yourself and nobody is going to babysit you. Not because they are rude. But because hardly anyone has time. 

You are in a new country all by yourself. Just like you, your roommates, your friends, even some of your relatives are also on their own. Everyone is trying to somehow make their life better and get settled in Canada. Everyone will be busy. Even if they are very close to you, they still can't take care of you. You'll have to deal with your things by yourself. This is one of the things you'll become habituated to once you start living alone. 

Doesn't matter if you are struggling financially, emotionally or mentally or all three, you can't just call your parents every time and start complaining about how life's been unfair to you. Learn to make your way and take full responsibility for making things better. 

4. Accept whatever part-time job you are getting and start working without judging the work you are doing or relying on friends to help you with jobs. 

Most of the students who come to Canada are either freshers or have only worked in their field jobs. They don't know much about the part-time jobs and kind of work they will be required to do. When they get jobs to make a burger or to clean washrooms or to take care of a gas station, they can't accept the fact that they will have to do this kind of work. Some people reject part-time jobs and wait for a better one. This is not a wise decision. No matter what kind of job it is, it will help you to pay for your expenses. As far as you stay strong mentally and keep in mind that whatever you are doing is only to pay for your expenses, you are good. 

Also, some people rely on their friends or roommates to refer them to the job. They are not going to refer you if you haven't seen the struggling phase. The competition is also very high now. So, you can't blame them if you are not getting a job. It is all on you and you should take full responsibility for it. 

5. Keep track of your expenses and save to pay your fees instead of purchasing iPhones, Cars, etc unnecessary things in the first year.

One of the biggest mistake students do after coming to Canada is purchasing branded things. It is not even six months and you have an iPhone, a car and Calvin Klein jeans. It is understandable that you want to experience the luxurious lifestyle but it better to wait than to dive into it at this early stage. Once you settle here, your finances are good, you can surely spend money on all these. You can use that money to pay for your tuition fees, student loans or just plain savings for the future. 

If you want a car, get a used one. If you want an iPhone, try to avoid the latest one. It will save your money by a huge extent. 

6. Accept the fact that you are going to miss your friend’s and close relatives wedding and other festive occasions.

One of the biggest downsides of moving to a new country is that you will miss your friends and family a lot. You won't be present when all your friends are arranging reunions. You will surely wouldn't be available for your friend's or relative's wedding. So, try to learn and accept that you can't really do anything in this case. Don't let yourself be deeply affected by these emotions and homesickness. 

7. Learn how to do the job search and work on your resume instead of just uploading it on Indeed / LinkedIn etc.

This is where most of the immigrants and international students struggle. When I ask my friends or subscribers how their job search is going? Most of the people would reply, "I have uploaded my resume on every single job posted on LinkedIn and Indeed but still haven't got any reply." 

Guys, submitting your resume and finding an actual job are two very different things. I'd suggest to visit the company's website and submit your resume there, try to find job postings in your field on LinkedIn and search for that company's competitors. Submit your resume on those websites too. Offer employers to do an internship for a month or two even if it is unpaid. This would add up to your Canadian experience. 

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