Budgeting and Resources

Budgeting & resources

Welcome to your one-stop resource for funding and budgeting your learning abroad experience! Here, you’ll find links to a variety of award and funding opportunities, resources, budgeting guides and tips to manage your expenses, and detailed country-wise cost estimates to help you plan effectively.

Budgeting Guide

Use the guide below to help you create a detailed breakdown of costs you can expect as part of your Learning Abroad experience:

Planning

To give you an idea of your budget, you may use one of the many websites available to find out the difference in the cost of living between Toronto and your dream destination (numbeoexpatistan, etc.)

OSAP

Good news, you can maintain your OSAP while on a Learning Abroad experience!

  • If you receive U of T credits or transfer credits for your study abroad program, you are eligible to receive the same amount of OSAP that you would receive here at U of T.
  • If you receive internship credits you may be eligible for OSAP during your time abroad depending on your internship salary, duration, and applicable academic credits.

More information can be found here.

Funding From Other Canadian Provinces

Please contact the U of T Out-of-Province Financial Aid Team (can.oop.financialaid@utoronto.ca) prior to applying to your home province or territory for your exchange term. This will ensure that your application information is correct before submitting the application.

Awards And Scholarships

Several funding sources are available across U of T (Centre for International Experience, Faculties and Departments), and through other institutions (Host institutions, Foundations, Governments). Some partner institutions may provide additional funding to students, like Erasmus + (funded by the European Union) or Summer Research. Here are three resources you can check out:

Tips

There are many ways to reduce the price of your experience

  • Subletting: you can explore the option to sublet your housing to help pay for your Toronto housing while abroad.
  • Phone/Internet Plan Suspensions: often you can suspend your phone and Internet plans in Toronto. Check with your provider!
  • Living On-Campus Abroad: choose a partner university where on-campus housing is available or guaranteed.
  • House-Sharing Abroad: be prepared to share your home with other students, or investigate opportunities to stay with host families.
  • Self-Catered Accommodation: having access to a kitchen can help save money on food.
  • Lower Cost-of-Living Destinations: select countries where the cost of living is equivalent to or lower than Toronto. Remember it is not always the reputation of the partner institution that counts but what you will take from the experience of going abroad!
  • Smaller Cities vs Capital Cities: Capital cities and big cities are often more expensive. Investigate smaller cities too. Often times your experience will be even more genuine and keep in mind that in some countries like in Europe, distance is more manageable than in Canada.

Country Cost Estimates

This section provides a breakdown of estimated accommodation costs, living expenses, roundtrip airfare and overall total monthly cost in CAD for various destinations around the world. The information is sourced from Numbeo to determine cost of living in different countries. Use this resource to compare costs across different countries and make informed decisions about your budget. 

The information below provides estimated regional averages and any outliers to the regional average.

Average calculated in CAD, per month.

Regional Average

Accommodation$1,100
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$2,200
Roundtrip Airfare$1,600

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Hong Kong

Accommodation$3,000
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$4,600
Roundtrip Airfare$1,800

Tokyo

Accommodation$1,500
Expenditures$1,400
Avg. Monthly Total$2,900
Roundtrip Airfare$1,200

Singapore

Accommodation$4,100
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$5,700
Roundtrip Airfare$1,500

Regional Average

Accommodation$1,300
Expenditures$1,100
Avg. Monthly Total$2,400
Roundtrip Airfare$1,500

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Tel Aviv

Accommodation$2,400
Expenditures$1,800
Avg. Monthly Total$4,200
Roundtrip Airfare$1,600

Dubai

Accommodation$2,400
Expenditures$1,400
Avg. Monthly Total$3,800
Roundtrip Airfare$1,500

Amman

Accommodation$500
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$1,500
Roundtrip Airfare$1,300

Regional Average

Accommodation$2,300
Expenditures$1,100
Avg. Monthly Total$3,400
Roundtrip Airfare$2,200

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Sydney

Accommodation$3,000
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$4,600
Roundtrip Airfare$2,300

Melbourne

Accommodation$2,100
Expenditures$1,500
Avg. Monthly Total$3,600
Roundtrip Airfare$2,000

Wellington

Accommodation$1,700
Expenditures$1,400
Avg. Monthly Total$3,100
Roundtrip Airfare$1,800

Regional Average

Accommodation$1,900
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$3,500
Roundtrip Airfare$600

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

New York

Accommodation$5,800
Expenditures$2,500
Avg. Monthly Total$8,300
Roundtrip Airfare$400

San Francisco

Accommodation$4,600
Expenditures$2,200
Avg. Monthly Total$6,800
Roundtrip Airfare$700

Austin

Accommodation$3,200
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$4,800
Roundtrip Airfare$700

Regional Average

Accommodation$900
Expenditures$1,400
Avg. Monthly Total$2,300
Roundtrip Airfare$600

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Nassau

Accommodation$2,700
Expenditures$2,100
Avg. Monthly Total$4,800
Roundtrip Airfare$600

San Juan 

Accommodation$2,600
Expenditures$1,900
Avg. Monthly Total$4,500
Roundtrip Airfare$400

Georgetown

Accommodation$4,200
Expenditures$2,600
Avg. Monthly Total$6,800
Roundtrip Airfare$700

Regional Average

Accommodation$800
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$1,800
Roundtrip Airfare$800

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Mexico City

Accommodation$1,300
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$2,300
Roundtrip Airfare$700

Monterrey

Accommodation$1,300
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$2,300
Roundtrip Airfare$700

Buenos Aires

Accommodation$900
Expenditures$1,000
Avg. Monthly Total$1,900
Roundtrip Airfare$1,100

Regional Average

Accommodation$800
Expenditures$800
Avg. Monthly Total$1,600
Roundtrip Airfare$1,800

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

Lagos

Accommodation$1,400
Expenditures$800
Avg. Monthly Total$2,200
Roundtrip Airfare$900

Cape Town

Accommodation$1,000
Expenditures$900
Avg. Monthly total$1,900
Roundtrip Airfare$1,700

Johannesburg

Accommodation$600
Expenditures$900
Avg. Monthly Total$1,500
Roundtrip Airfare$1,600

Regional Average

Accommodation$1,200
Expenditures$1,300
Avg. Monthly Total$2,500
Roundtrip Airfare$1,200

Here are cost estimates for popular destinations:

London

Accommodation$3,900
Expenditures$1,900
Avg. Monthly Total$5,800
Roundtrip Airfare$1,000

Dublin

Accommodation$3,000
Expenditures$1,600
Avg. Monthly Total$4,600
Roundtrip Airfare$800

Paris

Accommodation$2,000
Expenditures$1,500
Avg. Monthly Total$3,500
Roundtrip Airfare$1,000