Canada is a country I’ve always had a very good feeling about, although I didn’t know that much about it. Was it because Canadians have a reputation about being the nicest people in the world?  The lure of the great wilderness and big city-life? The large, prestigious University of Toronto (often shortened to U of T)? I can’t pinpoint an exact reason, but my gut feeling was telling me to go apply for going to Toronto.

Studying the bachelor’s program in Biomedicine at the Karolinska Institute gives a lot of opportunity of exchange studies. For my third semester I went to Leiden in the Netherlands with 8 Swedish friends. This was my second exchange, taking place during my last semester of the bachelor, and felt the need to change things up a little; I wanted to go beyond Europe, and I wanted to challenge myself by going on my own. 

As a Swedish citizen, no visa or study permit is required if you are not staying in Canada for longer than 6 months, do not intend to seek employment and have proof showing that you are accepted to a Canadian university. As the requirements to be exempt of the study permit are quite strict and may be subject to change in the future, be sure to check out  http://www.cic.gc.ca/ , the Government of Canada’s website for immigration and citizenship well ahead of time before departing for Toronto. I can also recommend mailing the Canadian embassy in Sweden if you have any immigration questions, as they were very quick to answer and were very helpful. If you do fall within the requirements for being exempt of a study permit, be sure to bring a printed copy of your admission letter to the U of T, as well as a proof of financial support such as a signed letter assuring financial support from CSN. The latter document can be ordered by calling CSN and asking for a proof of financial support. 

For the last semester of KI’s biomedicine bachelor’s program, you can choose to do a thesis work and report for either 30 ECTS or 22,5 ECTS plus free course(s) for the last 7,5 ECTS. At the time of my exchange, there was a requirement for bachelor students coming to U of T of enrolling for least two university courses, something that is not required for graduate students. I would recommend not choosing courses that are too challenging, as the full-time study tempo is studying 5 courses per semester. Converting to the ECTS credit system, each course corresponds to 6 ECTS. The deadline for course selection is already in late June, although you are able to add or drop courses as late as 2 weeks into the semester in January. This means you could in theory attend the first few lectures of a multitude of courses before making your final decision. Information on how the course codes and credit system works can be found here: http://sites.utoronto.ca/student.exchange/incoming/course/common.html . The contents of most courses and student opinions and evaluations can be found in the anti-calandar: http://assu.ca/anti-calendar . I found this site very helpful for choosing which courses to enroll in. 

I would recommend flying to Toronto from Stockholm with Iceland Air. They were the cheapest option by a wide margin for me, and as the transit is in Reykjavik (which is in the general direction of Canada, flying from Sweden) the trip is relatively quick. From Toronto Pearson (the major airport close to Toronto), the 192 Airport Rocket bus departs regularly to Kipling Station, which is the west end subway station for the yellow line. The fare is 3 CAD for all one-way tickets with the public transport company (TTC) operating in the greater Toronto area. Only coins or tokens (can be bought in stores or cash-to-token machines) are accepted on-board the trains or buses though.

I arrived in Toronto 3 days before my classes and laboratory work started, which gave me enough time to adjust for jet lag and familiarize myself with the city. I had accommodation already settled before arriving though, and would recommend anyone without accommodation to arrive at least 1 week beforehand (more about this in the “residence” section).

Coming from Sweden, I am no stranger to cold weather, and went to Toronto with the attitude that no Canadian cold should be able to phase me. With that said, the temperature in Toronto can reach frightening lows. When I arrived, the temperature ranged between -15C and -25C, and that’s without taking into account that Toronto can be very windy, making the temperature with wind chill even lower. The house I lived in was around 100 years old (many of the downtown houses were built in the early 1900’s) and did get pretty cold during the nights. Be sure to bring really warm clothes, even if you’re a cocky Swede like me.

As an incoming exchange student, you should be getting an email with an invite to the U of T Exchange Student Network Facebook group, and if not, just ask an admin for an invite: https://www.facebook.com/groups/218844708268210/ . This page is mainly used for organizing events with other exchange students, and students looking for, or offering, accommodation. I’d also highly recommend going to the events hosted by the Centre of International Experience (CIE), it’s a great organization for meeting other international students.

As an incoming Swedish exchange student, you are required to pay for the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP), which costs 57 CAD/month. It is billed through the ROSI system, which you’ll get a login for from U of T’s international office. It is possible to get an exemption from UHIP if you can prove that you have adequate coverage from another institution (such as the STUDENT UT from Kammarkollegiet), but I did not attempt to go through with this process as it was rather lengthy. Keep in mind however that the UHIP coverage is only for the semesters. This means that I actually lost my UHIP insurance during the month of May, as the winter semester in U of T ends in April. Another thing to keep in mind is that the UHIP coverage is rather limited when it comes to services outside regular and emergency healthcare, compared to the insurance that domestic students get. This is something that doctors or other professionals may not be aware of, something I discovered first-hand; I was directed to an orthopedic technician by a medical doctor working in U of T’s health clinic, with the information that I would be refunded of my expenses because of my UHIP insurance, which was proven to actually not be the case. The rules and regulations are hard to understand and incoming exchange students are a special case in the university health insurance system. Fortunately the staff at the UHIP office are very knowledgeable and helpful, so be sure to check with them before paying anything out of your own pocket.

Rent costs are comparable to Stockholm prices, but other than that, I found Toronto cheaper. I paid 800 CAD for renting a room in a house 15 minutes north of the university campus. Groceries that are usually expensive in Sweden such as vegetables and meat are much cheaper; I paid about half of what I usually do. Eating out and buying alcohol costs half or even less. A pitcher of beer generally goes for 12-18 CAD, which is what you’d pay for one pint of beer at a moderately expensive Stockholm pub!

Access to large, low-price supermarkets such as Costco and No Frills are unfortunately hard to get to without a car. I’d recommend trying to carpool for weekly shopping runs, which is what I did with my roommates. Metro has a 10% student discount on Wednesdays, something to keep in mind as they’re everywhere in downtown Toronto. 

The competition for on-campus housing through U of T can be harsh and can be very expensive; the only U of T-owned residence I was offered was the Chestnut Residence, which costs between 7,500 CAD and 9,500 CAD for just the winter semester (Jan-Apr), which I declined to because of the steep price. With that said, it’s generally easier to find somewhere to live in Toronto compared to Stockholm, although you’ll have to expect to pay at least as much as in Sweden. Expect to pay at least 500 CAD per month for accommodation. I paid 800 CAD per month to rent a room in a large house located in the annex, living together with my landlord and two other students. I found this accommodation through U of T’s off-campus housing finder: https://www.housing.utoronto.ca/student/login.aspx , of which you should receive a login from your U of T international student coordinator. This basically works as a craigslist or blocket advertisement site, but it’s restricted to people with some kind of affiliation to U of T. Another site to be sure to check out is Kijiji: www.kijiji.ca , which is pretty much a Canadian blocket/craigslist.

For the room that I ended up renting, I asked my landlord for any references (which was provided), and on that basis I felt secure enough to pay my rent plus deposit before arriving. This is not something I recommend anyone to do as you open yourself up to be scammed. I was lucky nothing happened. Based on what other international students living in Toronto has told me and by the sheer amount of advertised accommodations, I would recommend to go to Toronto at least one week in advance and look for somewhere to live when already there. I know this may sound very scary, but in terms of saving money and finding a place you’d be comfortable living in, it’s probably the option with the lowest risk. 

I performed my thesis work in Trevor Moraes laboratory in the Medical Sciences Building, working on characterizing the binding energy and partners of an enzyme of a pathogenic bacteria. I enjoyed working with the people in this lab, everyone was basically confirming the Canadian stereotype of being very friendly and helpful. There were also three other bachelor students working on their own projects in this lab. The experience was pretty similar to working in a Swedish lab, apart from the oral requirements on bachelor students. The lab meetings were on a weekly schedule, where one or two persons each week presented their research and progress since their last presentation. The bachelor students were put on the same presentation schedule as everyone else in the lab, which felt at first very intimidating: Here I was, a bachelor’s student trying to explain concepts in biochemistry to people who were experts in the field! It did not go all that well the first few times. It was incredibly developing for me though. Multiple people (not only my supervisor and P.I.) talked to me after each presentation in a very honest, non-judgmental and straight-forward way on how to improve my presentations. It also meant that I was basically continuously rehearsing for my thesis presentation back in Sweden without thinking about it.

I did not receive any help from the international coordinator at U of T in finding a research group who would host me for my thesis work. I would say that on a whole that was a positive, as it forced me to learn how to establish contact with and secure a lab position in another laboratory. I would recommend going through the department websites and mail the P.I’s of laboratories conducting research you’re interested in. Expect that some replies may take time, or to not get any reply at all. Try not to get discouraged though, as there are a lot of labs out there who are happy to host international students!

The official languages of Canada are both English and French, although French is only used as the main language in the province of Quebec. Not being used to living in a English-speaking country, one of my first spontaneous thoughts when I had just arrived in Toronto was “wow, everyone’s English is perfect here”. I had no problem speaking English full-time, KI’s bachelor biomedicine program prepared me very well for that as the language used in semester 3 and onward is English. It did take me a period of time however until I stopped getting a bit tired from using my second language for everything. Even though I felt fully fluent before arriving, I wasn’t used to speaking English all day long. About a month in I had fully adjusted, and even my thoughts and inner monologue was more often in English than Swedish.

The culture shock moving to Canada was that there was no culture shock. It felt very comfortable and familiar from the first day. People in general are very similar to Swedes in that they are a bit reserved, respectful of personal space, and very helpful and kind. Maybe they are a bit more extroverted and confident in their manners, I’d guess that the American flair rubs off on them.

The Centre of International Experience organizes events and get-togethers for international students. Many international students arrive for the fall semester in September, especially those who are studying for a full year. I arrived for the winter semester, which meant that while there were a few introductory events for new international students, it wasn't nearly as extensive as it is for those incoming for the fall semester. Most of the people I met and hung out with for my exchange semester was those who I met through CIE events. In addition there are student clubs for almost anything you can think of, take a look at https://ulife.utoronto.ca/ . I joined the skiing club and went with them to Mont Tremblant, a skiing resort north of Montreal, during the reading week holiday.

As I love large American cities, I did most of my traveling in the US. A hot tip if you want to travel in the US by flight is to fly out from Buffalo instead of Toronto, as you’ll save a lot of money by flying US domestic. The bus ride from Toronto to Buffalo is about three hours, but beware of that the customs control by the US border can take a long time. I missed a flight in Buffalo because our bus driver did not have his papers in order, which resulted being stuck in customs for over two hours. I traveled to San Francisco where I met up with a few Swedish friends who were on vacation in California, and I went to Chicago with a friend I met in Toronto. 

I would be lying if I said that it easy to go on exchange, or that my mood was tip-top all the time. There were times where I was really homesick, and times during the first month where I was feeling genuinely lonely by not actually knowing anyone. I realize now that these are natural feelings that comes with doing something as challenging as moving to a foreign country alone. I accomplished things I didn’t know I could, because I threw myself out there with no choice but to handle it. It may be scary, but life is scary and it’s up to you yourself to challenge yourself to grow and make life more manageable.

The funny thing with exchange studies is that even though the university heavily promotes it (at least at KI), your most important lessons are far from academic knowledge of whatever you’re majoring in. Befriending people from all across the globe and building a totally new social network, being able to compare how everything between universities to fast food works in different countries, those are skills and experiences that are hard to come by. Going on exchange studies while studying at KI has been one the most rewarding experiences I’ve had so far in my life, and would recommend anyone with just the slightest interest to just stop overthinking it and GO.