Here’s how much post-secondary tuition costs in Canada by province

If you’re considering expanding your education, be it through an undergraduate or graduate program, you may have many questions before you hit the books. Not only is it important you find the best school to jet you off into the workforce, but it’s also important to find one you can pay off.

Compared to the last school year, Statistics Canada reports tuition for grad school has increased about 2.2% and 3.0% for undergraduate Canadians enrolled in degree programs.

Depending on which province you prefer or the area of study, the cost of tuition can be below or higher than the national average.

Tuition for undergraduate students

On average, a full-time Canadian undergraduate student will pay $7,076 for a degree program in the 2023/2024 year. Meanwhile, that would cost an international student about  $38,081.

Here are the most to least expensive provinces for Canadian undergraduates:

1. Nova Scotia with an average of $9,575 (represents 35.3% more than the national average).
2. Saskatchewan with an average of $9,232 (represents 30.5% more than the national average).
3. New Brunswick with an average of $8,706 (represents 23.0% more than the national average).
4. Ontario with an average of $8,190
5. Alberta with an average of $7,586
6. Prince Edward Island with an average of $7,381
7. British Columbia with an average of $6,383
8. Manitoba with an average of $5,386
9. Yukon with an average of $4,275
10. Newfoundland and Labrador with an average of $3,481
11. Quebec with an average of $3,461

Tuition for graduate students

A graduate student will pay slightly higher than an undergrad, which is about $7,573 if you’re Canadian and around $22,061 as an international student.

Here are the most to least expensive provinces for Canadian graduate students:

1. British Columbia with an average of $10,748 (represents 41.9% more than the national average).
2. Nova Scotia with an average of $$10,548 (represents 39.3% more than the national average).
3. Ontario with an average of $9,445 (represents 24.7% more than the national average).
4. Alberta with an average of $7,879
5. New Brunswick with an average of $7,446
6. Prince Edward Island with an average of $5,805
7. Manitoba with an average of $5,742
8. Saskatchewan with an average of $5,276
9. Quebec with an average of $3,633
10. Newfoundland and Labrador with an average of $3,228

StatCan/Screenshot

Most expensive programs in Canada:

For this school year, the Canadian and international undergraduate students paying the most for their tuition, according to StatCan, are students who enrolled in professional degree programs like dentistry, medicine, veterinary medicine, and optometry.

Undergraduate students studying veterinary medicine in Prince Edward Island and Ontario are the unluckiest this year as their program fees saw the highest year-over-year increases at 6.0% and 7.5%.

For Canadian and international graduate students, on the other hand, the executive MBA and regular MBA have the highest tuition fees.

“ln 2023/2024, the fields of study with the largest tuition fee gap between Canadian and international graduate students in Canada were the executive MBA ($45,596 versus $68,224) and architecture ($6,886 versus $27,575) program,” a StatCan report reads.

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There also continues to be a wider gap when it comes to the fees international and Canadian undergraduate students pay.

“Adjusted for inflation, tuition fees for Canadian undergraduate students have been slightly decreasing since 2018/2019 while they continue to increase for their international counterparts,” StatCan reported.