CSIA Level 2 · Canada · Winter 2026/27

LilyFabGale

Season budget and savings plan — every dollar to the summit

Departure — — days to go — pay-days left to save Working holiday visa held

Exchange rates & dates

£1 = US$

£1 = C$

Bank/card spread %

Departure date

Months to save

Rates you'll actually get —

Market rates as at 2 August 2026. The spread is what a bank or card takes off the top — Wise or Revolut sit near 0.4%, a high-street bank nearer 3%. Every foreign cost is converted at the rate after the spread, so nothing here flatters itself.

What the season costs

	Cost	Amount	Currency	When paid	In £	Confidence	Note
	Subtotal
	Contingency %

Untick anything that turns out to be included in the course fee. Amber-marked rows are the ones to check first.

Where it lands

Whole season

—

Needed before she flies

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Still to find

—

Save each month

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Money already in place Saved month by month Target: everything due before she flies

The bar job

Province

Hourly rate (C$)

Hours a week

Tips a week (C$)

Weeks working

Weeks in Canada

Deductions %

Weeks of cash to land with

She earns out there

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Living costs out there

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Season balance

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Three currencies, three risks

Paid in US dollars

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Paid in Canadian dollars

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Paid in pounds

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Why three currencies: the course is sold by an American company but delivered in Whistler, so the fee is billed in US dollars while everything she actually lives on is Canadian. That puts about 80% of the bill on GBP/USD — the pair that moves most — and almost none of it on GBP/CAD. Worth asking whether they'll accept payment in CAD, or fix the USD price now: either would take the biggest single risk in this plan off the table.

What she has, and what she can put away

Lily's savings (£)

Mum's deposit

Deposit currency

Realistically saves (£/month)

Already in place

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If the pound moves against the dollar

The course fee is the dominant exposure and it's fixed in US dollars, so GBP/USD drives the bill. Over the last 90 days the pair has run between about 1.32 and 1.36. Buying the dollars in tranches as she saves spreads the risk; leaving it all to January is a bet on one morning's rate.

Check before you trust this total: ask the provider in writing what the US$9,975 includes — accommodation, lift pass, CSIA exam and membership fees, and any meals. Those four swing the answer by thousands. Also ask when the balance is due; most providers want it 6–8 weeks before the start, which pulls the real deadline back into November.

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