Studying and Working in Vancouver: Sandy’s Digital Marketing CO-OP

Updated 2026/10/16

Today I’ve invited Sandy (Instagram: Sandy in Canada | English x Illustration) to share her experience studying and working in Canada: how she improved her English, settled into local life, found part-time work, and got along well with her host family!

“Who”: Why She Started Creating Content

Why did you start “Sandy in Canada | English x Illustration”? Why drawings and animation?

When the pandemic broke out in 2020, I went through a long, dark period. I couldn’t find my direction. I wanted to work in marketing but had no relevant background, and I was too scared to switch careers.

At first I started the page just to build a portfolio, and the content was mostly about marketing. Later I wanted to cover more topics I was interested in, so I started sharing my experience learning English and the everyday English you don’t learn from textbooks.

The illustrations and animations came about because English-learning accounts were popping up everywhere. To keep my page unique, I created three characters, Hash Brown Dog, Bubble Tea Cat and Rice Cake Bunny, which also stand for “made in Taiwan.”

“What”: Program Information

CICCC Digital Marketing CO-OP (work-integrated program): length, tuition, class hours, work hours and more

Length 6+6 (one year), tuition 200,000-250,000, classes five days a week, 4 hours a day (morning, afternoon or evening sessions), and 480 internship hours.

What does the application process look like? Do you need any documents or language tests?

They look at TOEIC or IELTS scores, but it’s fine if you don’t have one. The school has its own online placement test, and if you don’t pass, you just take language school classes first.

The documents include proof of funds, a police clearance certificate, travel records and a household registration transcript, plus other personal documents. I had an agency handle all of it.

“How”: Studying and Living There

What has studying at CICCC been like (classes, classmates, after-school activities)?

Of the CO-OP schools I know of here, CICCC has the most class hours, so we get to learn more.

The school runs different activities after class every day: sports, sightseeing, music events, yacht parties and more.

If you’re going to language school, I strongly recommend you don’t stay in Taiwan and take the classes online to save money. A lot of my friends regret not coming here sooner to meet other people.

How do you split your time between studying and working? Do you still have time to travel or do other things you enjoy?

Everyone asks me this one XD

Classes, work, running my page, and going out on top of that. Just how busy am I?

I’m actually very self-disciplined. I’m the real time management master (?)

I do everything quickly, so even with a schedule this packed, I still have time to go out and have fun.

Having fun costs money too, though, and that’s when having shifts to work starts to feel like a blessing XD

Does your part-time income cover living costs (or even travel or tuition)?

Pay here is biweekly, and I get a lot of hours, around 30 a week, so breaking even on living costs is basically no problem. (I net about 2,000 CAD a month, and living costs are around 1,500.)

If you want to earn back your tuition, you’d probably need to work full-time (40 hours).

I’ve heard that a lot of people can’t get that many hours, though, so they work two or three jobs.

Besides working at Starbucks, you also used your content experience to become a Social Media Assistant at the Vancouver Visual Art Foundation. How did you get that job, and what are the work and pay like?

It’s actually a volunteer position, so there’s no salary. It’s mainly for the experience.

I got it through a volunteer fair the school organized. At first I was just a student worker at the event. Later, while chatting with the managers, they found out I ran a social media page and invited me to join the marketing team.

So I encourage everyone to put yourself forward. You’ll get a lot more out of it than you expect.

Marketing here is very different from Taiwan. Traditional methods like printed flyers and email marketing are still very common. I’m still learning~

What was your English like before you went to Vancouver? Did you have trouble communicating with locals?

Something I’ve always wanted to tell people: compared with a lot of study-abroad or English-learning accounts, my English wasn’t good from the start. Before university, English was my least favorite subject, and my English score on the college entrance exam was terrible.

I only got interested in English after joining a language exchange event, and I started learning it through speaking.

I think my biggest problem was my limited vocabulary. Back in Taiwan, I often couldn’t understand people or didn’t know how to say what I meant. My advantage was that I wasn’t afraid to speak, so I’d ask questions or find another way to say it.

That’s one of the things that improved my English the most. Everyone learns English differently, so the most important thing is to find a method that works for you.

Nobody says your English has to be great before you can go abroad, or that you can’t find a job if it isn’t. Language is for communicating. What matters is not being scared off by difficulty and continuing to learn.

How do you get along with your host family? Any tips?

I think they like me a lot (if I say so myself). When you’re living in someone else’s home, be as polite as you can and follow the house rules.

The trick is to read the room and figure out what they like and dislike, so they don’t end up disliking you XD

But I know some host families are strange. If it doesn’t feel right and you can leave, get out quickly~

“Why”: Her Reasons and Plans

You studied STEM in Taiwan and already have a master’s degree. Why did you want to study and work in Canada?

I studied STEM, but my interests weren’t there. I’d wanted a marketing-related job for a while, but I didn’t have the background or experience. This time I wanted to go abroad and study marketing and do an internship directly, to build experience and improve my English.

What are your plans after the program in Canada?

I’ll go back to Taiwan in November, think about it for a month, and then decide~

Bad Luck Abroad

When you go abroad, you’ll definitely run into surprises and things you can’t predict. I have friends who got scammed as soon as they arrived, had their suitcase taken by someone else, couldn’t connect to the dorm Wi-Fi, or had their laptop simply die.

As for me, my passport was stolen on my fifth day here, along with my driver’s license and SIM card QQ

When that happens, staying calm and quickly working out what to do is really important, and it trains you to handle all kinds of problems on your own. So don’t wonder why going abroad brings so much bad luck. Honestly, I’d be more worried if nothing went wrong XD

Finally, I encourage everyone to live somewhere different for a while if you get the chance. You’ll find your mindset and your life change once you’re out of your old comfort zone, and you might even find a place that suits you~