Canada: Student goes to university by plane because it is cheaper than his rent

to 4:46 p.m| Reading Time: 3 minutes

DIm Chen is studying economics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). His university is located in Vancouver, a Canadian city of over one million people in the southwest of the country. Share the UBC campus with 55,000 fellow students in one of the world's most livable cities.

Until last December, Chen lived in a vibrant city far from America. But then he received notice of the collateral increase – and found a creative solution: he went back to his parents and has been going to lectures regularly ever since – by plane. “It's like riding a bus,” he told The Canadian Television channel CTV News Vancouver.

Shock after rent hike

Vancouver is considered the Canadian city with the highest housing costs – a one-room apartment costs an average of 3,000 Canadian dollars (2,037 euros). The vacancy rate is 0.9 percent. By comparison: In Germany, Munich has long been considered the most expensive city for students. at 0.2 percent When the apartment was vacant, the rental prices, heated, were 695 euros for a 30 square meter apartment. A new pioneer Frankfurt am Main since last year. A comparable apartment there costs a euro more.

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Prizes are only Chen's dream. After months of travel, he got a shock at the end of 2023: his landlord suddenly demanded 2,500 Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about 1,700 euros, for Chen's room in a shared apartment. Before the holidays, rent was as low as $900. Chen clearly understood that he could not afford it. However, dropping out of his studies was out of the question, after all, he was in the final stages of his master's degree.

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So Chen returned to his parents in Calgary, nearly 1,000 kilometers away. As he put it on an internet forum, he was saving enough to go to university – by plane “reddit“Report.

That's the extreme swing cost

Each flight lasts about an hour and a half, explained Chen, who describes himself on Reddit as a “super commuter,” meaning “super commuter,” but more in the sense of serious commuter. It takes him two hours to walk from the front door to the lecture hall.

He then gives a three-hour lecture, gets on a bus back to the airport, and the young man describes his daily life to TV station CTV News. Footage shows him checking in at the airport. His parents or friends would then pick him up from the airport in Calgary, his home ten minutes away.

This is possible because the Covid pandemic has digitized university functions worldwide, with seminars and lectures being followed on laptops. But since attendance is mandatory, Chen must travel to Vancouver for five to seven lectures a month.

Chen can only afford it because he works as an international management consultant at his university. So the young man can handle the numbers. A return flight from Calgary will cost him no more than 180 Canadian dollars, about 122 euros. The trip costs about 1,200 Canadian dollars a month, so it doesn't make sense to rent an apartment or room, Chen said in an interview.

Chen explains that in his parents' home, he only had to contribute to extra expenses.