Anastassiya

My name is Anastassiya and here is my story. I had been an international student before arriving in Canada, so I knew what difficulties students could face with. I am from Kazakhstan, but I came to Canada from Moscow, Russia, at the end of February 2022, when the war in Ukraine started. After hectic packing and buying new air tickets, I landed in Toronto with my Russian VISA card, which wasn’t accepted anywhere and I had barely $1000 cash. I needed to find a place to live in Sudbury, Ontario, but luckily Cambrian College residence had rooms for new students. I opened a Canadian bank account and tried to transfer money from Russia but to no avail. The money I was saving for years to pay for the college were out of my reach and I needed to pay for full term of living in residence and had just 3 month to save money to pay for the second semester of my program. My mother was the only one family member who could provide financial support, but she lived in Kazakhstan where pay rates three times smaller than in Canada. I knew that even if I found a job in the shortest possible time, I would not be able to save money in three months to pay my tuition fees. I was stressed and didn’t know what to do. I was surprised when my Canadian group mate told me that their tuition was almost three times cheaper. Is that true?