Undergraduates pay more in extra fees than graduate students across Canada

Editor’s note: This article has been updated for clarity. 

New data from Statistics Canada shows Canadian full-time undergraduate students pay more in  mandatory extra fees on average than their graduate counterparts. 

These extra fees can include covering admission, registration, student services, student association, student activity contributions, premiums for compulsory insurance plans, athletics and recreational activities, and more. 

Undergraduates pay three figures more in extra fees when compared to graduate students in Manitoba, Alberta, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia.

In B.C., the difference on average has declined over the past five academic years, with undergraduates paying $54 more than graduates for the 2020-21 school year, and $26 more for the current year — up $2 from last year based on the data. This can vary between institutions. 

At Kwantlen Polytechnic University, full-time domestic undergraduate students enrolled in 30 credits for the 2024-25 academic year will pay about $325 in university student fees, about $375 in Kwantlen Student Association fees, as well as $226.32 in transit costs per semester through the Multi-Pass and U-Pass, all of which are mandatory. 

“One of the [non-optionals] is the Multi-Pass. I know for a fact that most of these students have a car, and they have to pay that fee regardless,” says Jamie Askew, an associate of science student who has studied at KPU for four years. “It’s only getting pricier, so that’s a big part of what I’m not happy with.”

Askew paid the fall 2024 tuition before speaking to The Runner. She says more opt-out options would be beneficial for students who do not use many of the services they pay for. Information on what the fees are and what they do would help students better understand the fees they are paying. 

“I get [the] KSA because they do stuff around and I visually see it. But the hidden ones, where I don’t necessarily know where those are going … it’d be nice to know where those little fees went,” Askew says.  

The university provides information about extra fees through its website. KPU could not comment on if there would be any difference in fees for graduate students when the faculty of graduate studies begins enrolment. 

Extra purchases like equipment, books, and supplies are also required for some KPU programs. KPU estimates students will pay about $750 in textbooks and supplies based on taking three courses for two terms each. This can vary, with some courses requiring zero textbooks and supplies, while others requiring both. 

For Garina Dhami, a first-year biology major at KPU, the compulsory costs of supplies and books are significant. 

“I always aim for A plus. I need a good GPA to go to med school, so definitely I need [the] books,” she says. 

Dhami notes that she needs to buy textbooks, lab manuals, as well as necessary supplies like goggles and calculators, which can vary from class to class. 

She says so far books and supplies have cost more than $200 per semester, less than KPU’s prediction, however still significant on top of her international student tuition fees. 

Next semester, she will try borrowing her textbooks instead of buying them for the courses where it makes sense to cut costs. 

“I’m going to issue it from the library whenever I need to do my readings, and then return it back. I’ll see if it works for me or not, if I’m on top of the syllabus,” Dhami says.