New Zealand or Canada_Study and Immigration

[Huong Shashi]

Hello from Vietnam!
I am going to apply for Student Visa in New Zealand and Canada. I have 2 options Napier in New Zealand and Windsor, Ontario in Canada. My course is MA in Economics. I m single and I am mainly concerned with job opportunities after I graduate, opportunities to be a citizen, safe place to get married , raise kids and weather. As I know, Canada is much much colder than New Zealand but there are more jobs for international students in Canada. Immigration law in Canada is tighter and takes international students around 4-5 years to become citizens while it is 2 years in New Zealand. I have never been to either place so it is the biggest journey for me ever. Could you please give some advice?
Thank you so much!

[Asteger]

Hi Huong

It's a bit funny that you're looking for opinions on Canada on a NZ forum. However, this is also a bit funny for me as I was born in Windsor. I've never been to NZ, though, so can't really tell you about that, while my Windsor knowledge is also out-of-date, and so is my Canada knowledge.

I can say that, on impressions, Windsor seems similar in ways to parts of NZ. There you've got some streets where it's more usual for people to visit on foot, but most of the city is spaced out and pretty suburban. You need a car to really get around, but if you choose the right neighbourhood - for example, live near the university - then you're fine and can cycle when it's not too cold, there are some buses, and you can walk along the Detroit River if you want a stroll and more of a park atmosphere. There's lots of farmland outside of Windsor, and people almost always live in houses not apartments. Detroit, USA, is across the river and as a kid growing up in the 1970's-80's it always seemed a big, sinister kind of place, and it's now famous as a 'failed' US city with an empty central core, and so I don't think I as a kid would feel differently now. Windsor is a pretty safe place, like Canada usually is, but I don't think we can say that about Detroit and many places in the US.

When I was a kid, it would be could enough in the winter that ponds or other water would freeze and we could skate on them. However, even in the 1990s it seemed warmer and warmer, and for Canada the winter in Windsor has to be considered mild. If you're geographically-minded, Windsor has a similar latitude to Rome, Italy, or Barcelona, Spain (which is something that seems to confuse Europeans). Thinking of NZ, I imagine the most southern parts of the South Island would be similar when it comes to winter cold. However, my impression is also that Canadian homes and buildings are a lot warmer in Winter than in NZ, where I imagine people have to where warm clothes inside. (NZers - sort yourselves out!)

Growing up, I would say that Windsor seemed a pretty 'normal' place where people generally seemed on the same level. I guess some kids came from bigger homes or smaller homes, but I didn't have a sense of 'rich' and 'poor' like I imagine kids might have growing up in other places. Going to school, to doctors or hospitals, all was normal and taken for granted. There also wasn't a feeling like you should go here or there, and things seemed equal.

As an Asian you'll be in the minority, but I think you'll feel quite comfortable. It's a city built on immigration (due to its proximity to Detroit, US, and the auto industry, which used to be more prosperous) and, even with the 'white' people, there are all sorts of different backgrounds and French or English-sounding names are as common as Italian or Greek or Polish or Chinese or German, etc. Now there are a lot more people coming from South Asia and Africa or the Middle East, too, which is great. In the 1980s there were quite a few Chinese-origin people there (often with Hong Kong roots), and when I've been back since places like Windsor always become more diverse. Canada has a high rate of immigration and being welcoming to immigration is an important part of the national identity in most parts of the country, and Ontario will be one of the best places. I'm looking at going to NZ with my wife and daughter, but worry that NZ won't quite compare in these ways.

If Canada were a bit warmer and not far from Indonesia (my wife's from there), if I put aside 1 or 2 othe practical reasons then I'd go to Canada. I'm optimistic about NZ, though, too. A smaller place and the economy seems a bit quiter, but probably also good for the most part. Good luck!

[chapwithatui]

Hi there,

A couple of clarifications to start off with. I don't know of any NZ university that offers an MA in Economics. The first postgraduate qualification in economics offered by NZ universities is called 'honours' and is a one year course you do after your BA or BCA in economics. This degree gives you a BA(hons) which is equivalent to an MSc from a UK university. A Masters degree is a two year program by research, which you can take after your BA (hons), instead of a PhD.

More fundamentally perhaps is that there is no university in Napier, and certainly not one offering MAs in Economics. There is however a Napier University in Edinburgh which offers MAs in Economics. Victoria University of Wellington has a campus in Vietnam, I'm sure someone there could advise about opportunities to study Economics in New Zealand.

Finally, I don't know what you have been told, but you certainly can't become a citizen after being a student for two years. Not in NZ or anywhere else for that matter.

[chapwithatui]

... I stand corrected, there is an Institute of Technology in Napier. It is, however, not a university nor can you read economics there.

[NIJJAR21]

no scope of economics in nz
thankyou

[chapwithatui]

Plenty of scope to study economics in NZ, just not an MA in economics.