Excellent research environment with high costs for international students

McGill has given me a strong academic home for my master's and PhD. My department is collaborative, supervisors are accessible, and there is funding for conferences. Libraries and research facilities are excellent. International Student Services helped me with permit extensions and a housing dispute. The negatives are cost and bureaucracy. International tuition is high, and funding packages for PhD students barely cover living costs in a city where rent keeps rising. Some administrative processes are slow and split between offices. Montreal itself is a wonderful student city, and the mix of English and French is a bonus if you make the effort.