Sofiia Koziuk is among B.C.’s top high school graduates this year accepted by one of Canada’s most prestigious business schools, the Sauder School of Business of the University of British Columbia (UBC). On top of this achievement, Sofiia was awarded with a $15,000 scholarship under the Outstanding International Student Award by UBC.
At first glance, Sofiia’s future seems bright. Yet the 18-year-old from Ukraine has no choice but to defer her UBC offer due to financial difficulties. Hundreds of Ukrainian high school graduates across Canada are confronting the same challenge.
Sofiia arrived in Canada in December 2022 and soon resumed her high school education in Vancouver. Like many Ukrainian war refugees who arrived after the outbreak of Russia’s invasion in 2022, Sofiia came to Canada through the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. This special temporary visa program offers free open work and study permits to Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the war.
The B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care classified CUAET-holders as domestic students and provided funding to support their educational needs. This measure allowed CUAET-holders to enroll in public elementary, middle and secondary schools across B.C. Several independent schools also offered special scholarships for these students.
However, the picture is entirely different in the realm of post-secondary education. There seems to be no standardized system that determines the tuition fee status of CUAET-holders. In other words, each school is left to make its own decisions when it comes to defining the status of CUAET-holders and consequently the amount of annual tuition fee to be charged.
Community colleges and smaller universities such as Douglas College (DC) and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) often apply the same definition adopted by the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care, charging CUAET-holders the same annual tuition fee as domestic students. The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) will be adopting the same policy for all CUAET-holders who will begin their studies in winter 2026.
On the other hand, research-based institutions like University of British Colombia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU) categorize CUAET-holders as international students, thus requiring them to pay at the international annual tuition rate of approximately $37,442 to $64,000, depending on the program.
Given the current situation, Sofiia, who hopes to one day pursue a career in finance and accounting, has not given up on her dream. She deferred her offer from UBC Sauder for a year and is now working full-time as an assistant bookkeeper for a property management firm to save up for her tuition fee next year.
By BCEIC