Stats Can Says Ontario, Dental and Foreign Students Pay More Tuition

If you’re studying dentistry, in Ontario, and happen to be an international student, bad news. Statistics Canada recently reported that these areas are some of the most expensive in college or university education.

“Canadian full-time students in undergraduate programs paid 5.0% more on average in tuition fees for the 2012/2013 academic year this fall than they did a year earlier. This follows a 4.3% increase in 2011/2012,” said Statistics Canada’s release, titled University tuition fees, 2012/2013.

“On average, undergraduate students paid $5,581 in tuition fees in 2012/2013 compared with $5,313 a year earlier.”

Across the country, tuition fees rose everywhere except Newfoundland and Labrador, where they have been frozen since 2003/2004. Everywhere else, tuition increases ranged from 2.0% in British Columbia to 10.1% in Quebec. At the high end of the chart, Ontario students paid the highest fees ($7,180) in Canada, followed by students in Saskatchewan who paid $6,017.

Stats Can’s numbers also showed that dentistry is still the most expensive field of study.

“Undergraduate students in dentistry ($16,910) paid the highest average undergraduate fees in 2012/2013, as was the case for the previous years. They were followed by students in medicine ($11,891) and pharmacy ($10,297).”

They also found that international students were paying more.

“Nationally, average tuition fees for international undergraduate students rose 5.5% to $18,641 in 2012/2013, compared with a 4.3% increase in 2011/2012.”