Host an international student in your Canadian home — earn supplementary monthly income while sharing your culture and city. We handle the matching, the screening, and the support so you can focus on being a good host.
Compensation depends on your city, room setup, and whether you provide meals. Paid monthly via direct deposit, on the same day every month.
From application to your first welcome dinner, the process usually takes 4–6 weeks.
Tell us about your home, your family, your neighbourhood, and what kind of student would be the best fit for you. Quick online form, ~10 minutes.
We do a brief in-home visit, run a criminal record check, and verify your home meets safety standards. You get the same checks back about us.
Once we have a great match (we'll send you 2–3 to choose from), we coordinate arrival, airport pickup if needed, and stay in touch through their stay.
We're selective on purpose — students rely on hosts as their first contact in Canada. Here's the baseline.
Furnished with a bed, desk, wardrobe, and a window. Doesn't need to be huge — just clean, safe, and private.
Breakfast and dinner on weekdays. Most hosts have students join the family meal — that's the whole point.
Within ~45 min by transit to a school or downtown is ideal. Suburban with good bus/SkyTrain works well.
You don't need to be a teacher — just patient and willing to chat in a language they're learning.
For tax and immigration reasons, hosts must be permanent residents or Canadian citizens.
Most placements are 4 weeks to 9 months. Short-term-only (under 4 weeks) we usually route to other host types.
Monthly, by direct deposit, on the 1st of each month for the month ahead. If a student moves out mid-month for any reason, we still pay you for the days they were there — and we look for a replacement immediately so you're not without income.
You can ask for a re-match within the first 14 days no questions asked. After that, our team mediates. We have a strong track record of resolving most things — but if a placement just isn't right, we move the student and find you a better match. You don't carry that risk.
Yes — many of our top hosts have 2 or 3 students at once (one per private room). We just verify each room meets the same standards. Hosting multiple students often makes financial sense and the students enjoy having a peer in the home.
Yes — Wi-Fi, utilities (heat/water/electricity), and weekly laundry access are all included in the host fee. You don't bill the student separately for these.
Generally yes, as supplementary income. We provide a year-end summary of payments for your tax filing. Many hosts find that after deductions for room cost, food, and utilities the taxable amount is modest. We recommend talking to your accountant — happy to share what other hosts do.
Most are 18–28, attending universities or colleges (UBC, SFU, BCIT, U of T, TMU, McGill, Concordia and more) or English/French language schools. We get students from Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East — we'll always tell you a student's background before you commit.
Send us a few details and we'll reply within one business day with the next steps and a 15-min video call to walk you through the program.
No commitment yet — this just starts the conversation.
Our top hosts say they get back as much as they give — new perspectives, lifelong friendships across the world, and (yes) reliable extra income. If that sounds like the kind of thing you'd enjoy, we'd love to talk.