Student Freebies in Canada: The Complete Guide

Being a student in Canada comes with perks that extend far beyond the classroom. From free software worth thousands of dollars to discounts on everything from food to travel, your student status is a powerful money-saving tool. Here's the complete guide to Canadian student freebies.

Free Software and Tech

Microsoft Office 365 is free for all Canadian post-secondary students through their school email. This includes the full desktop suite of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plus one terabyte of OneDrive storage. Many students don't realize this benefit exists — check your school's IT services page for instructions.

GitHub Student Developer Pack provides over two hundred thousand dollars worth of free developer tools, including cloud hosting credits, domain names, and professional development tools. JetBrains offers their entire IDE suite free to students. Autodesk provides free access to AutoCAD, Maya, and other professional design tools. Adobe Creative Cloud offers a significant student discount that brings the full suite to about fifteen dollars monthly.

Canadian Transportation Discounts

VIA Rail offers a Fifty Percent Student Discount on economy class tickets across Canada. This is one of the most generous student discounts in the country — a ticket from Toronto to Montreal that normally costs sixty dollars becomes thirty. Sign up for VIA's youth discount and book early for the best prices.

Most Canadian cities offer student transit passes at significant discounts. Many universities negotiate mandatory bus passes that are included in tuition fees. Greyhound and various regional bus services offer student pricing. Flix Bus Canada offers student discounts on intercity routes. For flights, StudentUniverse provides exclusive pricing on Air Canada, WestJet, and other carriers.

Food and Dining

Tim Hortons offers periodic student promotions through their app, including free coffee during back-to-school periods. McDonald's Canada runs student discount promotions. Pizza Pizza offers student deals at locations near campuses. Many campus-area restaurants offer ten to twenty percent student discounts that aren't widely advertised — always ask.

For groceries, students should take advantage of campus food banks if needed — they exist at virtually every Canadian university and college. FlashFood and Too Good To Go apps help students get discounted food nearing its best-before date from nearby grocery stores.

Banking and Finance

All major Canadian banks offer free student bank accounts with no monthly fees. Scotiabank, TD, RBC, BMO, and CIBC all have student-specific accounts that waive the fees charged to regular accounts. Many include free basic credit cards to help students build credit history. Some banks offer signup bonuses for new student accounts.

For budgeting, KOHO offers a free prepaid Visa that helps with spending management. Wealthsimple provides free stock trading for all users, which is particularly useful for students wanting to start investing early. Student loans from OSAP and provincial equivalents include grants that don't need to be repaid.

Entertainment and Culture

Spotify Premium Student bundles Spotify, Hulu, and Showtime at a significant discount. Apple Music Student costs about five dollars monthly and includes Apple TV Plus. Cineplex offers student pricing on Tuesday evenings. Many museums and galleries across Canada offer free or discounted student admission — the AGO in Toronto, for instance, is free for anyone twenty-five and under.