Vanessa Huxter wrote:
After completing my BSc degree at McGill University I chose to pursue graduate studies at the University of Toronto. Presently, I am a Ph.D, student in the Scholes Group studying the optical properties and dynamics of quantum confined semiconductor systems.

I live in the Annex, a neighbourhood just a few blocks west of the university. The people that live in this area are a mix of families and students, and there are lots of good restaurants and interesting shops. Even though there isn't much free time, its easy to find something fun to do close to school whether it is reading in a caféenjoying a meal, a concert or a night on the town.

Toronto has a reputation as being an expensive place to live. Here is an example of typical monthly expenses:

Sample monthly budget:

Dan Harrison wrote:
I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, which is one of the most dismal, cold places on earth.

I did my undergraduate studies at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. New Brunswick is my father's home province and he also graduated from MTA, along with many other Canadian relatives between 1893 and present. So, it's not so odd that I ended up there after growing up 8000 km away in another country.

After undergraduate university, I tried law school at the University of Victoria to see if I'd missed something great while focusing exclusively on science. As it turned out, I had made the right decision the first time so, after one semester of legal studies, I went looking for the chemistry department. Fortunately, they took me on for a M.Sc. degree, which I've just finished.

Fate has delivered me to Toronto, where I eagerly look forward to Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Dr. U. Fekl.

Glenn Ikeda wrote:
I was born in Toronto and grew up in the town of Pickering just a short commute from the city. I enrolled in the Ph.D. program 3 years ago after earning a Bachelors degree in Biological Chemistry from this department. Toronto is a great city and I found it hard to leave. I am currently working in the lab of Professor Kluger on a project that involves the synthesis and analysis of thiamin-derived intermediates, studies that have implications for analogous enzymic processes. After graduation from the Ph.D. program, I plan to pursue a postdoctoral position.

Like many other graduate students, I live in the Graduate House Residence, which offers affordable accommodation just a 5-minute walk from the chemistry department. In addition to research, I enjoy spending time outdoors, specifically backcountry camping and fishing. It's convenient that an abundance of outdoor activities are located just a few hours from Toronto. Winter time is suitable for skiing and snowboarding so weekend trips with lab members are frequent. What's left of my stipend is spent on travel and I've visited Edinburgh, Paris and San Francisco since starting grad school.

Toronto is a vibrant, multicultural city with no shortage of extra-curricular activities. Most attractions are within walking distance while others are easily accessible by the network of public transportation systems. The graduate student body also organizes social events and trips to popular events around town.

Toronto is a city of contrast that can be as affordable or expensive as one desires. The best part is that students have a wide variety of options to choose from. Here is an approximate breakdown of my annual costs and expenditures:

Sample monthly budget:

Julia Gavrilyuk wrote:
I'm 4th year Ph.D. student from the Batey Group. I did my B.S. in Chemistry at National Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine. Although my research is mainly focused in the area of organic synthesis, I've had a chance to do molecular modeling, as well as basic biological screening. So my curiosity for medicinal chemistry like project has been fulfilled and I've obtained a valuable experience.

Speaking of the things to do in the free time: there are so many things to do and so little free time. As a newcomer to Canada and Toronto I, of course, went to Niagara Falls and CN Tower - "must-see" attractions. Every year Toronto hosts one of the world's biggest International Film Festivals. As most of the movies are shown in the theatres near UofT, I always try to see at least a couple of them. There are also musicals and concerts during the year that are definitely worth visiting. During the summer time I like to go camping and canoeing to the Algonquin park north from Toronto. UofT has a very good gym and if you want some more challenging activity there is also an indoor rock climbing facility nearby. During winter my group also likes to go curling. Another great thing I really enjoy in Toronto is the ability to see different cultures and try all sorts of national cuisines without having to get on the plane.

How expensive is it to live in Toronto? Not too expensive. I live with my husband and baby in UofT Family Housing for $760/month. On average, bachelor/1bdrm apartments near UofT are $800-1200/month, but if you don't mind using TTC, you can find much cheaper places. A TTC pass for a month is about $90. Food is approximately $200 and entertainment about $100. The Graduate Students ChemClub usually does very good job arranging special discounts for tickets to musicals, movies, sport events etc.

I really enjoy my Grad School time at the University of Toronto.

Sarah Brown wrote:
I grew up in a very small town in Muskoka, just outside of Bracebridge. I studied at Brock University in St. Catharines for both my B.Sc. and my M.Sc. in Biophysical Chemistry. After finishing my Masters I wanted to continue my education. I had heard many good things about the University of Toronto, particularly about the amazing facilities and excellent supervisors. I am currently in my second year of my Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. I am now working in Environmental Chemistry and I am co-supervised by Dr. Myrna Simpson and Dr. Andre Simpson at the Scarborough campus. My research involves metabolic profiling of organisms in the soil after exposure to urban contaminants. Some of the techniques I use in my research are NMR and GC-MS. In the future I hope to work in the pharmaceutical industry, where my experience with these spectroscopic techniques will be an asset.

I currently live on my own in a bachelor apartment, which I love! Moving to Toronto was initially a bit nerve-racking, but after a week it felt like home. One of my favorite things about Toronto is the incredible music scene here. I really enjoy live music and spend most of my free time at shows, discovering some of the amazing talent that is on display in this city. With a bit of budgeting it is easy to live on a grad student income and still enjoy everything that Toronto has to offer. I even manage to do a bit of traveling. There are many inexpensive places to buy groceries and other essentials. Originally I had a car, but I found that I didn't need it while living in the city so I got rid of it. Instead, I use the TTC frequently and buy a Metropass. This leaves me with a bit of money every month to go out and enjoy myself.

In short, I have been very satisfied with my experience as a grad student at the University of Toronto. I would recommend it to anyone.

Sample monthly budget:

Tingbin Lim wrote:
I'm an international graduate student from the sunny city state of Singapore, where I completed my BSc in Chemistry in the National University of Singapore. Currently I'm in the second year of my PhD, and I'm doing my research in the Polanyi group on self-assembly and reaction of organic molecular structures and patterns on reconstructed surfaces under ultra-high vacuum conditions. I feel very lucky to have been given a chance to work and learn from a great supervisor and a team of fantastic scientists in the lab, housed in a really nice department.

I see Toronto as a place of rather many parallels with my home in Singapore, although the climate is drastically different. There's a good mix of many different types of people and neighbourhoods throughout Toronto, just like in Singapore. I've found that I love to spend some time cooking very nice meals for myself and my friends, and consequently one of my favourite past times is to visit the various grocery/spice/ingredient shops around Toronto and discover the many different possibilities for new recipes, which are really endless!

Currently I live in a rented room in a large shared house, about 25 mins walk away from the lab. With the departmental stipend and some budgeting, I find that I can save enough money to travel around a little as well, time allowing. A breakdown of my main monthly expenses are as follows:

Hanif Bayat wrote:
I was born and raised in Tehran , the capital city of Iran . I received my bachelor degree in physics from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran and then in 2003, I moved to Canada to pursue my graduate studies in physics at the University of Guelph . Guelph is a small, beautiful city less than 100 km away from Toronto . My master's project was about numerical investigations of the phase transition of liquid crystals. In 2005, after earning my masters degree at Guelph , I started a PhD program in the Schofield group at the theoretical chemical physics division of the Chemistry department at U of T. Here, I have had the chance to TA and take courses from both Chemistry and Physics departments. My PhD project is about "Discontinuous Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Protein-Like Folding".

I have found Toronto an interesting, attractive, lively city, which satisfies my cultural and social needs. In Toronto I have the chance to try different cuisines and be in touch with a variety of cultures. There are lots of sights in Toronto such as the CN Tower, ROM, Toronto Zoo, Casa Loma, Markham Historic Unionville and many beautiful parks such as Center Island . Lots of festivals and fun activities are happening around you in the city especially in the summer time, such as "Taste of the Danforth" and "Taste of Little Italy".

Besides doing research, teaching and taking courses, I love to visit different sights and enjoy the beautiful nature of Canada . I have visited many cities and nature sites in Ontario and Quebec during the last three years and I have published the photos I took at my personal website, which attracts a few thousand visitors per day.

The cost of living in Toronto is fair. It is a bit more expensive than Guelph or other small cities, but you have access to many more interesting activities. For example, if you are from a foreign country, you can probably find food and cultural products from your home country.

Sample monthly budget:

Zaminhussein A. Kanji wrote:
I am a second year PhD student in Atmospheric Chemistry working in the Abbatt group. I attend the Downtown St. George campus and consequently live downtown to enjoy the close proximity to school. Living downtown was definitely a good choice for me because I enjoy working odd hours and the flexibility of not being independent of the transit system was crucial to me. I live off campus (practically on the east edge of campus, on Bay St.). It takes me 10 minutes to get to the chemistry building. The location is ideal because it is central to commercial activity and close to school. It is a lively and safe neighbourhood. The chemistry building is located close to the west end of campus which is an advantage because it means I am close to the other spectacular neighbourhoods of Toronto such as Baldwin Village, The Annex, Kensington Market and Chinatown.

This is my 4th year in Toronto. I did a two year Masters in the same group. Prior to living in Toronto I resided in Kingston for 4 years where I completed my BSc at Queen's. I was born and raised in Kenya in city called Mombasa. Even though it is classified as a city now, back in the 90's it was a town and still is in many regards. I moved to Canada when I moved to Kingston in 1999 and for me the move was perfect, because of the size of Kingston. However once I moved to Toronto, I realized that it had lot more to offer, in terms of personal development and experience, entertainment and opportunities. Living hear has definitely promotes independence. I think there is something for everyone in Toronto, including a plethora of restaurants if you are a 'foody', cheap or expensive, live music, fine arts, cultural arts, clubs, sports, outdoor activities especially in the summer, winter sports are in close proximity as well.

Living downtown hardly requires me to use the transit system because I enjoy walking to most places however, should one need to, it is quite efficient and can get you to most places in the city. I find living close to school eliminates the need to buy a subway pass. Having said this, it should be kept in mind that Toronto is a hotbed for cultural activity and getting to some of the smaller hidden communities and hot spots would require transit travel.

I do share my apartment with one other person. I have always lived in the same arrangement and at the same place since I moved to Toronto. For me sharing works well for the obvious financial benefits, but also personally I have always had positive experiences with and as a flat mate.

Below is a sample budget that allows me a fairly comfortable lifestyle.

Fred Menard wrote:
I grew up surrounded by cornfields in a very small town called St-Polycarpe in Quebec. Years later, during my B. Sc. at Universitée Sherbrooke, I was lucky enough to experience the Chemistry Co-op program which, through internships in the industry, really defined my area of interest: organic chemistry. I got my first graduate research experience from studying cascade reactions during my M. Sc. degree in Sherbrooke. Then I decided to pursue my Ph. D. and came to U of T. I am now in the research group of Professor Lautens, where I develop organo-metallic catalysts to achieve new chemical transformations. More specifically, my work involves the discovery of rhodium complexes as new synthetic tools for the total synthesis of natural products and biologically active molecules. My time here is divided between research in the lab, teaching to undergrads (TA), attending lectures from visiting scientists from around the world, and going to international conferences to present my own research.

I live downtown, just outside the campus, so I get my daily 15 min walk by U of T's beautiful Victorian buildings. Downtown, every thing is conveniently close by. So even though the public transport is very efficient in Toronto, we rarely need it, as we basically walk every where. I was told that Toronto was an expensive city, but I found out that the only thing that's really different than other cities is the rent. And U of T's scholarships are adjusted accordingly.

As English is not my first language, I thought my accent might be problematic. But I quickly realized that here, every body has an accent! What is striking in Toronto, is to see so many different cultures live together with absolute respect for each other - thus, setting an inspiring example for other nations to follow.

Here is an approximate breakdown of my annual costs and expenditures:

Sample monthly budget:

Isaac Herrera wrote:
My name is Isaac Herrera and I was born in Guadalajara , Mexico . I moved to Toronto in 2005 after completing my M.S. Chemistry at the University of Texas at El Paso . Toronto is one of the largest cities in North America and people that live here come from all corners of the world, therefore, you will be able to find a neighborhood that you can call home during your stay here. It took a bit of moving around on my part before I made Portugal Village my headquarters when not at school. Its location is within a short bike ride from St. George campus and well connected to public transportation for those winter months. In addition, it is located next to Little Italy, which is known for its many restaurants, nightclubs, and shops. Among the many neighborhoods in the Downtown core, Kensington market is one of my favorites. Here you can find second-hand stores, coffee shops, and products from around the world at reasonable prices. It is within walking distance from the Chemistry building, and is an excellent destination for a cheap lunch, especially when your experiments are running and you have extra time on your hands [did I really say that...?].

My experience in the Master's program taught me that pursuing a Ph. D. would require long hours in the lab, but I strive to keep a balance in my professional and personal life. After all, most professors would agree that their best years were those spent in grad school, so why not learn from them! In my case, I took up dancing as my hobby, but you can find many clubs which might suit your taste at the Hart House ranging from archery to wine tasting. In addition, the athletic facilities on campus provide yet another alternative to help keep a balance between your mind and your body. Both the Hart House and the Athletic Center are close to the chemistry building and offer a range of drop-in, as well as registered classes. If this is not enough, then this vibrant city has more festivals and events throughout the year than you could possibly attend. To find information about these events, you can check out the weekly newsletters and online resources (e.g. NOW Magazine , City of Toronto Official Website ). Furthermore, graduate student have access to subsidized tickets for events organized by the Chem Club , the Graduate Student Union , or the International Student Center . So, there are plenty of things to do when you need a break from the lab.

Finally, financial planning is a must for any graduate student since this usually means not having a lot of extra cash. However, the stipend at the chemistry department allows you to live comfortably. As for other international students, this was my first experience away from home, so I gave myself some extra room at the beginning by saving some money. My savings was short lived, but it certainly helped me to get settled. Here is a current breakdown of my budget:

Sample monthly budget: