A McGill student and her mother share an icy treat during McGill's Parents Weekend.

For parents of McGill students going to study abroad

Sending a child off to university can be a difficult step. But you do so knowing that in going, they are entering adulthood. If higher education serves to broaden a young person’s horizons, there’s no better way for them to do exactly that than by incorporating international travel into their degree. Whether they spend a semester or year abroad on exchange, gather their own field data in some exotic locale, or intern at an organization related to their area of study, making their education international is a great way to complement their coursework with real-world experience. For more information on how to become involved as a McGill parent, click here.

For parents of students coming to McGill to study

McGill, Canada’s top university as ranked by numerous national and international surveys, is located in Montreal, one of the world’s most cosmopolitan – and safest – cities.

McGill’s downtown campus is a park-like green space lined with beautiful historic buildings. Montrealers flock to campus for a moment’s repose in the heart of the city. McGill’s Macdonald campus, 40 km west of downtown and home to McGill’s Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is the largest green space on the island of Montreal. Regular shuttle buses, free for students, connect the two campuses.

If any city deserves its status as a tourist destination, Montreal does. Visitors see many cultures living harmoniously together, hear many languages – not just French and English – spoken all over town, and have a renowned selection of affordable international restaurants to choose from. Montreal is not only home to many cultures, but to artistic culture, with a vibrant music scene and the annual Montreal International Jazz Festival only the most famous of the many ongoing events in the performing and fine arts calendars. The city is physically beautiful, with charming and varied architectural styles surrounding Montreal’s namesake green space, Mont Royal. It is also well situated for day or weekend trips: the Laurentian Mountains are to the north; the Appalachian Mountains just over the U.S. border to the south; historic Quebec City and the scenic Eastern Townships region lie to the East; and Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is just a two-hour drive west.

Despite its attractiveness as a place to visit and live, Montreal’s cost of living is quite low compared to other Western cities of comparable size (2 million). Add all these factors to the university’s shining international reputation for teaching and world-leading research and it’s easy to see why so many students apply from around the world to study at McGill.