I'm curious to know what the costs (rent deposit, visa etc.) are? My DD was going to apply to go this summer but decided to wait a year. We were discussing it just yesterday...she's done lots of research but doesn't know what the costs are.
I’ll try to remember as best I can.
My DD was on the J1 cultural exchange. She had been hired to work attractions. It was supposed to start May 11 and finish August 6.
Her costs in the process were:
— she had to train into Toronto for the interview — I think they were either Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver so some people have to fly
— after Acceptance, you need a formal document confirming registration from your university. They didn’t like her first one so had to pay for second. $30 each.
— need to upload a police check. She had one Current to the year, but it needs to be within six months of travel. Thats $30 in our region.
— you need to purchase medical insurance through Disney’s broker. That was $392.43USD
— you must stay in Disney Housing and pay a deposit for the first bit (Til your first pay check — afterwards your rent is deducted from pay) $380USD
— you need to get your own bedding, food, kitchen supplies etc.
— you must pay for the Working VISA $30
— they need flights down and back. The check in is in the morning so most people fly in the night before so add in a night at a Disney hotel and Uber to the offices.
They don’t really make much money. They can usually cover costs. It’s for the experience, and is usually their dream.
I was able to refund her hotel, and get credit for her flight. Disney credited back the housing fee pretty quickly. We are still waiting for insurance money. Disney wiped hands of that. We’ve had to deal with the Broker in NJ who is obviously short staffed right now & theres a lot of red tape. So far, none of the kids this year have received any of that money back yet. All the other forms are a wash. it would be nice if Disney had just deferred them for a year. But we have to start from scratch. — if they do it next year — I honestly Don’t know if they’ll continue the international program. Applications normally start Oct but i can’t see them recruiting with the borders as is.
As for the other program the OP mentioned. My younger DD is starting at Brock in the Fall in the tourism environment program. Brock and U of Waterloo offer that term co-op you mentioned. She was definitely going to apply for it. I don’t know any further about it. Unfortunately, im not sure that program will continue either — right now, we‘re not sure they’ll even be at university come Sept or whether it’s still online.
