Key takeaways
- The real cost of paying tuition is the fee plus the exchange rate margin
- Compare every quote with the mid-market rate on the same day
- A 1% difference on CAD 20,000 tuition is CAD 200 worth of your currency
- Fees taken by banks in the middle of a wire must also be covered so the school gets the full amount
Why the exchange rate matters more than the fee
When you pay Canadian tuition from abroad, you pay in your currency and the school receives Canadian dollars. Each route makes money in two ways: a fee you can see, and a margin in the exchange rate that you often cannot. The margin is the gap between the rate you get and the mid-market rate (the rate banks use with each other).
On tuition-sized payments, the margin is usually the bigger cost. A route with “no fee” can still cost more than one with a fee if its rate is worse.
On CAD 20,000 of tuition, every 1% of margin costs CAD 200 worth of your currency. Over a four-year degree with tuition paid twice a year, small differences add up to a real amount. That is why it is worth five minutes to compare quotes before each payment, not only the first one.
How the calculator works
- Base cost: tuition × mid-market rate. This is what you would pay with no fees and no margin.
- Each route: (tuition + any Canadian dollar fees you must cover) × quoted rate + the route’s fee in your currency.
- Cost above mid-market: route total − base cost, shown in money and as a percentage of the base.
- The cheapest route is the one with the lowest total.
Enter rates as units of your currency per 1 Canadian dollar. A higher number means you pay more. If a provider shows the rate the other way (dollars per unit), divide 1 by it.
Worked example (example numbers)
Tuition is CAD 20,000. The mid-market rate is 67.7 rupees per Canadian dollar, so the base cost is ₹13,54,000.
| Route | Calculation | Total | Above mid-market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform at 68.4, no fee | 20,000 × 68.4 | ₹13,68,000 | ₹14,000 (1.03%) |
| Bank wire at 69.2 + ₹1,500 | 20,000 × 69.2 + 1,500 | ₹13,85,500 | ₹31,500 (2.33%) |
In this example the platform saves ₹17,500. Your own quotes may give a different answer, so always check on the day you pay.
How to get good quotes
- Start from your school’s official payment page or portal. Only use routes the school lists.
- Get all quotes within the same hour, because rates move.
- Ask your bank for the full cost to deliver the exact Canadian dollar amount, including fees in the middle.
- Check if your home country adds tax, such as India’s TCS on education payments above ₹10 lakh. Use the India TCS calculator for that.
Next: read Flywire vs Convera vs PayMyTuition vs bank wire and how to pay tuition from abroad, or plan your full budget with the cost of studying calculator.
What this calculator does not include
- Home-country taxes such as India’s TCS. These are added on top and often refundable.
- Card fees if you pay by card. Add any card or foreign transaction fee to the route’s fee.
- Rate changes between the quote and the payment. Many quotes hold for a short time only.
- Provider prices. We do not store fees or rates for any provider, because they change daily. Enter quotes you got yourself.