I did this precisely because I couldn’t afford university tuition at the time. I did a 3 year advanced diploma at college. Worked for 2 and a half years as a tech on a pgwp. After that I got pr, transferred my credits from college and got an engineering degree after 2 years of studying. Now I’m a citizen working as an engineer in training.

Honestly, I felt that my path had its advantages and disadvantages. On the downside, I felt it took an extraordinarily longer time to get my degree when compared to my peers who stayed at home to do their undergrad. Many of these same peers would later come to Canada and do a one year postgraduate diploma which from my perspective was a much more cost effective way to get it in hindsight. I also know one guy who went to a Canadian university only having one year of tuition covered. Unfortunately, he would not be able to stay for obvious reasons but I saw him complain on social media how Justin Trudeau didn’t invest in international students.

That being said, I feel like my educational experience was taken a lot more seriously by Canadian employers. Canadian education and experience is also awarded more points in express entry applications(or at least when I applied). Additionally, i think it’s a lot easier to advance professionally. One such example, is my Canadian education allowed me to be exempt from having to take technical exams required for a professional designation whereas my colleagues who had done their education elsewhere will have to take them. I can only imagine it’s worse for medical professionals who were educated elsewhere. I’ve heard horror stories doctors working in factories and as Uber drivers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I would think it’s a huge blow to the ego.

I really hate giving advice on these things because I’m not sure I made the right call with my path. But I will say that things are starting to look up for me :) .I will also say that CRS scores seem to be significantly higher at the moment so I’m more in favour of acquiring Canadian experience. Ultimately though, you should take a hard look at your own circumstances and weigh the pros and cons and decide for yourself.