Details

• Canada
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

Book your flights early and the return flexible or at least not right after the end of the semester as Canada is absolutely worth travelling. Don't live on campus and, if possible, schedule your classes for only a few days of the week, in order to you avoid commuting for hours. For accomodations, HOEM or Tartu College seem like good, but relatively expensive options. I found mine through 4stay.com, they are mentioned on the YorkU website. Have your documents, like proof of residence and study permit ready for the immigration. Tip in case you're arriving in the winter: My colleague from WU and I decided to leave right after Christmas to be there for New Year's celebration to connect with other exchangees already.

2. Accommodation

As mentioned I found mine through a website referenced by YorkU. It was a lot less expensive than HOEM and Tartu College but you need to be lucky with your roommates. Apart from that, my condo, ALTER Condominium, had a whirlpool, sauna and gym, staff was friendly and it felt safe. Make sure to find an accomodation that has a washing machine, many don't. The area, around Church and Carlton St, was very lively, close to the main street, Yonge, and had good access to public transit. From there it took me about 50min to get to school, but like everybody else before me, I would still strongly recommend living downtown, especially if you don't have class everyday. York and Schulich, the business faculty, are commuter schools, so naturally there is not too much going on. If you want to expercience the city without commuting for hours find a place near Line 1, which brings you to York, and go on campus only when you have class.

3. Academic life at host university

York is a commuter school and the campus is basically it's own city. There is a mall/foodcourt, several sports facilities and it has two dedicated subway stops. Inside Schulich, there is a cafeteria, a library and a coffee shop. Tim Horton's, another coffee shop, is a 2min walk away. Most classes are very interactive and the relationship between students and teachers felt a lot closer than at WU. For classes, I can recommend Chris Bell's Conflict and Negotiation (ORGS 4560 S), and I really enjoyed Suhail Hafiz' and Zdenek Necas' teaching, even though their classes, Advanced Corporate Finance (FINE 4150 R) and International Business Simulation (SGMT 4350 R) were more on the level of our basic Finance and Global Business classes, rather than what I expected from year 4 classes. Getting the best grades is very doable if you're actively participating in class and put some effort in your assignments.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport: Live near Line 1 as it connects all of downtown and goes up to York. Service stops at 2am, even on the weekend. Expect relatively frequent delays, especially with streetcars(trams). Get the TTC Post-Secondary Photo ID from the office at Bathurst station asap, to be able to buy the monthly student pass. Safety situation: I felt very safe throughout my entire stay. Social/leisure activities: I spent most of my free time playing hockey, but in Toronto you can find any sports or activity you want to do. I can recommend going to TIFF Lighthouse for movies, Kensington market for street food and College St West and Ossington St for bars. Trinity Bellwoods is one of the nicest parks and you should also take the ferry to Toronto Island on a sunny day. While the tickets for the Bluejays baseball games are super affordable, starting from 10€, the tickets for the NHL and NBA games are a lot more expensive, starting from 80-90€. The Toronto Marlies, Maple Leafs' farm team, are a more affordable alternative. What I recommend is driving to Buffalo if you just want to see an NHL game once. It's a 3h drive including the time you spend at the US border. Rental cars and gas are very cheap and we combined it with a visit of Niagara Falls on the way back. Tip: YorkU has a very affordable gym, 25CAD per semester, if I remember correctly.

6. Testimonial

Talk to the locals and go out with them instead of sticking to your fellow exchangees, I was lucky and super happy to spend my time with locals and it gave me a very different, authentinc non-tourist experience of the city. Do road trips to the surrounding National Parks, Ottawa and Montreal and., if you can, travel to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta. The flight from Toronto to Calgary is not too expensive and the Rockies are just stunning.