COURSE/ SCHOOL/ JOB PROSPECTS ETC. DECISIONS! DECISIONS!
I guess this is the most important part of the decision making process... what school to select and what course to apply for that ultimately leeds you to maximize your job prospects.
#1. Decide what you want to do. If you are interested in a specific area (IT, business, accounting etc) than that should make it easy. All you have to do now is find a good school with a good reputation.
If you do not have interest in a specific area, than you have to look at what would be beneficial for you in the long run. Do research on what has been in demand and what will be in demand in the next decade in canada. a good place to start is canada's labour market information: http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sc/lminfo/index.shtml
General rule of thumb is that anything in IT is always going to be in demand. So will be professional degrees like medicine, law etc. trades are in high demand throughout the country but not sure how an international student will fit into the trade/ apprentice program since its mostly work experience and less course work.
At the moment, oil fields work in alberta is the place to be. so if you can get into a program (preferably in alberta) with anything to do with working in oilfields, do it. Thats where the money is right now and probably will be for the next 5-10 years. I know people who have done 2 year programs from alberta colleges and are making $100k + a year working for oil companies.
#2. Selecting the school is very important as it will effect the opportunities and resources available to you during your job search phase. Generally, the bigger the school, better resources are available. University education is preferred by employers but if an employer has had good experience hiring students from a local college, they may keep going back. But a university credential gives you more leverage overall.
Colleges are fine too and most are a little cheaper than university but not by a huge margin. University Colleges have a better reputation than colleges. Co-op employers also prefer advertising jobs at university colleges and universities to increase their application intake pool. the more students applying for jobs, more leverage they have and more options they have. Colleges will usually only have access to local employers and local jobs while universities attract employers from all over the country. So thats something to consider.
One thing you can consider is that if you are going for a 4 year bachelors degree program, its worth looking into doing the first 2 years at a local college. Most of the time, you can transfer credits and go into 3rd year at a local university after completing the first 2 years at a college. But make sure it can be done and there is some sort of arrangement between the college and the university. The benefit of that is you will do the first 2 years cheaper, with a smaller class size and with less intimidation and to some extent, easier too.
The college fee structure is also something to look into. The college i went to used to charge students a set fee for full time. Once you register in 4 or more courses in a semester, you pay a set full time fee. It did not matter if you took 4, 5, 6 or even 7 courses. So i took 7 courses each term (was not easy) and finished a 2 year program in 1.5 years and saved a semester's tution fee. Universities however charge per course, so no tricks there.
#3. Making yourself marketable while job hunting is very important. Canadian work experience is what matters the most. Might aswell forget about your work experience from where-ever you are. Even then, it can be difficult to land your first job. I know i had hell of time looking for my first job, even after getting a Bachelor in Comp Science and 16 months of co-op. You have to stand out from the rest. Good grades on your transcript are a plus but not all employers ask for it. Its what is on your resume that will get you noticed. So here are some tips:
1. Become part of a student club. anything, that shows you have a sense of community involvement and are a social person. and by a club, i do not mean some indo-canadian bhangra club or something (there was a bhangra club at my university called the Jalebi Club or something....ridiculous), better if it has something to do with a social cause or student services or something.
2. Volunteer as much as you can. I used to volunteer for new student orientations. you just take a bunch of new students and show them around campus. It's fun and you meet new people and make friends (work on your public speaking skills).
If you can, volunteer off campus doing things related to your course work. for e.g. if you are in IT, volunteer some organization to setup/ maintain their website, teach seniors basic computing skills like email and stuff and etc. It looks very good on your resume and you feel good about it too. Karma points FTW! You can usually find volunteer opportunities in your city through student services or just google.
3. Go to job/ trade fairs in your city. Even if its a job fair at another university, still go. Take a bunch of copies of your resume's. Talk to company representatives and ask questions regarding the company, their products, company culture, opportunities, their vision etc. Most of the times, people representing their companies are the recruiters themselves. If you show genuine interest, they will show interest back in you. hand out your resume's to every employer you talk to. You can even find out what they are looking for in potential employees. That can give you an idea of how to upgrade your skills for the future. Best part, they also hand out free stuff at these fair's like pens, t-shirts, bags, caps etc.
4. As i have said numerous times before, go for co-op/ internship if available. This is where universities have an upper hand over colleges as universities usually have a solid co-op program. It is even mandatory in some programs like engineering and some masters degrees. You will come across all sorts of employers during your co-op job hunt. The job description is usually blown up in terms of the requirements but that is only an indication of the ideal candidate, does not mean they expect the applicants to have all the listed skills. so if you meet some or most of the requirements, go for it. If nothing, you can atleast get an interview out of it which is a valuable experience in itself.
Also, the type of employer you work for can affect your future job chances. In most cases, the company you have done your co-op with will be more than willing to hire you on a permanent basis (if they are hiring). Smaller companies seem to be more loyal in that respect compared to big companies that have a huge employee turnover (this is just my opinion). But your goal should be to land A job. and make sure its relevant. I have seen electrical engineering students working as Software testers on their co-ops. That is not relevant at all and probably wont help you land an engineering job after graduation.
So in a nutshell, try to get involved as much as you can. It's all relevant stuff you can put on your resume and make yourself stand out from those who just have their transcript to show.
Anyways, it was a good and rational writeup. Nice to hear how you have sailed through -and apparently, quite successfully 
