Top 5 Daily Questions About Canada

Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Product Design. These are areas of interest for my 16 year old daughter. She will be visiting Vancouver, Canada for two weeks beginning tomorrow in part to explore institutes of higher learning she might like to attend following graduation from high school...what schools should she see while there? She is more interested in Product Design and possibly Fashion Design as opposed to graphic design. Help me rank the schools based on their standing within the educational community. Which ones are most highly regarded? I realize Canadas best design schools may not even be in Vancouver but of those that are, which ones should she visit? Personal experiences welcome. Emily Carr looked interesting but their website wasn't very inspiring. Please mention how many students attend a particular campus if you know and especially what the zeitgeist of the campus is. - 36 hours ago

When a Canadian mutual fund ends in the word class, eg the AGF Canadian Stock Class, how is that fund different to ones that end in fund, such as the AGF Canadian Stock Fund? Are they different funds? Acuity Short Term Income Class is an example of a "class" fund where there isn't also a "fund" fund offered. - 2 days ago

How can I get a package forwarded to me from the US? This has been a perennial problem for me and I'm sure a lot of other Canadians. Right now I'm looking at a pro hair curler that's $17 on amazon.com, and $80 in my local store. I want to buy a bunch of them, too (I work for a hair salon.) I have also searched the previous questions here on Mefi, but they all fall short of finding an answer and are out of date. I have checked out "Mailboxes etc." They only sell US mailboxes to US citizens. The other companies mentioned are for residents of vancouver or something equally ridiculous.... Borderfree.com is useless - there's just a handful of approved retailers. Customs and "duty" are not a problem for 99% of consumer stuff - there's a lot of confusion on the topic, but all customs charges is the amount you would have otherwise paid in taxes had you bought the stuff locally. Fact, peoples. I can clarify if anyone wants me to. I mean it's not exactly complicated. All I need is a company that puts a new address on the parcel and ships it to me, fer cripes sake. It's dead easy money. There's got to be somebody that does it. - 4 days ago

Help my friend get into a Canadian political science PhD program on his second try. [Some preamble notes from me to ensure that advice isn't too US-centric: -Because we're talking about Canada, do keep in mind that doctoral social science programs (except for psych) here don't normally admit directly from undergrad, so it's normal for even strong applicants to specifically enroll in a Master's program first. -Also, GRE scores aren't considered in admissions decisions for applicants with Canadian degrees.] From my friend: I'm soliciting some general advice on my current PhD situation. This year I applied for four political science programs here in Ontario. I was placed at the top of the waitlist for one (the waitlist was never used due to high yield) and rejected from the remaining three. My master’s marks were stellar (top 3 out of our program of 40 people) and my recommendations were strong and from professors established in their fields. On the negative side, I did a master’s research paper instead of a full thesis, lacked research assistanceships, and had a couple crappy senior undergrad marks. Nothing critical, but definite disadvantages (and unchangeable at this point). So I suppose I’m looking for general advice on how to approach re-applying next year. I am definitely set on doing a PhD, and my research directly fits in with a professor’s current project at the university that waitlisted me. However, I am not very clear on what would dramatically improve my qualifications (I’ve heard taking more classes or attempting to secure a non-student RA, though I’m skeptical of how good a use of time those efforts would be). Currently I’m relying on the fact that I have more breathing room to prepare my applications for next year (it was hectic last time), as well as to complete a writing submission that’s directly related to my research area [political economy]. Tips are welcome. Program budgets are going to be pretty crappy for the foreseeable future so I’d like to nail this next year. - 4 days ago

Revenue Quebec Filter: I mailed my taxes to Revenue Quebec somewhere around the 3rd or 4th of May. That's slightly late, but it's OK because they owe me money. I even sent it express post so it wouldn't get lost. Two months later, I've received no cheque, no direct deposit, no notice of assessment--nothing. Any theories on WTF is going? Revenue Canada sent me their notice 3 weeks ago. Am I missing something? (Does Quebec do things in installments, and if so am I invalid becaause I've moved from Quebec?) Or is RQ just that slow? Should I refile? Any experience welcome. I'm at a loss here. - 5 days ago