UX schools and industry in Canada

Application strategy
#1

Hi all!

I just want to start out and thank Kaiting and everyone for cultivating such a helpful website and forum with great questions! Both have been super helpful to me in navigating my field change. I’m a 2019 UW grad (go dawgs!) wanting to transition from my background in biochemistry and healthcare. After a lot of consideration, I decided a formal education is more beneficial to me than self-teaching. I’m looking at masters programs, but need some schools aside from UW to apply to.

I don’t know a lot about the reputation of schools in Canada or the tech industry there in general, so I’m wondering if schools like UBC and UofT would be worth applying to if I’m a US citizen. The biggest appeals to me are honestly moving to a new city, but also tuition. UBC is much cheaper, and UofT international is on-par with UW’s in-state tuition. Going to a Canadian school looks like it would be cheaper than going to top out-of-state schools in the US.

Of course, I recognize the most ideal and smartest situation is probably to get into UW. However, if I don’t, I want some solid options to pick from!

Thanks again everyone!

#2

Hi,

It sounds like you have prioritized your needs (cost + new city appeal) and since you are a U.S. citizen, you can come back anytime without having visa issues. I see no harm in applying.

I’d call out that due to the COVID situation, the “exploring a new city” part will be uncertain since many programs have decided to go fully online until next year.

Good luck!

#3

Hi,

Thanks so much for your reply! I think I’ll definitely be applying, and hopefully schools will be back to normal by 2021-2022!

While there’s no harm in applying, I’ve read some other posts comparing the US to the UK and other European schools. In your professional experience, do you feel like Canada aligns itself more with going to a US school? Or do you think they’re regarded as less locally known, like European schools?

Thanks again so much! Your website is incredible ^^

#4

It depends on where you refer to as “local”. Take the greater Seattle area (where I’m at) for example, since it’s geographically close to Canada, I have lots of Canadian coworkers who held Canadian degrees (from UBC, UofT, UofWaterloo, etc). They are all engineers though :slight_smile:

1 Like
#5

I’d hope to move home eventually so this actually helps a lot! Thanks again!

#6

Hi! I have applied for MS in HCI at most of the US universities (CMU, UW, IUB, IUPUI, UMCP, Georgia Tech). In Canada, I found only U of Toronto having a 2 year program on UX Design. I wanted to know how are the job opportunities for UX Designers in Canada compared to US?