At 27, changing careers in Canada is less about passion and more about financial survival during retraining and income loss

“I’m 27, working as a legal assistant, and thinking about switching into healthcare. If I quit my job to go back to school full-time, how do people actually afford rent and basic living costs without family support?.” This is one of the most frequently discussed questions on r/PersonalFinanceCanada in recent months.&nbsp;At its core, this is a financial question, not a discussion about passion or career direction<h2>1. The Biggest Barrier to Going Back to School Isn’t Tuition</h2>When people talk about changing careers by going back to school, tuition is often the first thing that comes to mind.But in most cases in Canada, tuition is not the biggest barrier.<meta charset="utf-8"><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:602/339;margin-left:0px;margin-top:0px;" src="https://loa-portal-ap-southeast-1.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/11759/image.png" alt="The Biggest Barrier to Going Back to School Isn’t Tuition" width="602" height="339" uploadprocessed="true"><figcaption>The Biggest Barrier to Going Back to School Isn’t Tuition</figcaption></figure> &nbsp;The real issue lies in living expenses during the transition period - the time when people no longer have full-time income, while rent, utilities, insurance, credit debt, and other fixed costs continue to exist.&nbsp;Unlike tuition, which is capped and follows a relatively clear timeline, living expenses have no fixed end point.&nbsp;They continue month after month, slowly draining savings and creating constant psychological pressure - forcing many people to delay their career change or abandon their studies halfway through. &nbsp;In other words, tuition is a cost you can calculate, but living expenses during a period without income are what can completely derail a career-change plan if not prepared for in advance.<h2>2. Why 27 Is a High-Risk Age for Career Change&nbsp;</h2>At 27, you are no longer starting from zero.&nbsp;By this stage, life is usually built around a relatively stable income - rent, daily living costs, financial commitments, and a standard of living that is not easy to scale down for an extended period of time. &nbsp;When that income is interrupted in order to return to school, the risk is not simply choosing the wrong field or enrolling in the wrong program.&nbsp;The greater risk is having very little room left to recover from mistakes. <meta charset="utf-8"><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:500/341;margin-left:0px;margin-top:0px;" src="https://loa-portal-ap-southeast-1.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/11760/image.png" alt="Why 27 Is a High-Risk Age for Career Change" width="500" height="341" uploadprocessed="true"><figcaption>Why 27 Is a High-Risk Age for Career Change</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Unlike the low-cost mistakes of your early twenties, errors made at 27 come with a much heavier price.&nbsp;In many cases, you’re not moving forward; you’re spending years of effort just to return to the starting point.&nbsp;As a result, changing careers at 27 is no longer a low-risk experiment. For many, it becomes a high-risk decision that demands serious consideration of finances, time, and personal resilience.<h2>3. When There Is No Perfect Solution: Practical Strategies from the Community</h2>A common theme across most Reddit responses is a fairly blunt admission: there is no truly easy path to changing careers at this stage.&nbsp;Rather than searching for a “perfect solution,” many people take a more pragmatic approach: figuring out how to stay afloat and keep studying throughout the transition period.&nbsp;The most common strategy is aggressive cost-cutting: selling a car, relying on public transit, sharing housing, cooking at home, and eliminating nearly all non-essential expenses.&nbsp;This isn’t about “living in hardship,” but about deliberately restructuring one’s lifestyle for a limited period of time.Alongside cutting expenses, many emphasize the importance of maintaining a minimum cash flow. In this context,&nbsp;<meta charset="utf-8"><meta charset="utf-8"><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/education/student-aid/grants-loans/repay/assistance/student-loan-forgiveness.html"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;font-family:'Be Vietnam Pro',sans-serif;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Student loans</a>are not viewed merely as a way to cover tuition, but as a tool to buy time - time to study, to complete internships, and to gradually pivot careers without being forced into rushed decisions driven by financial pressure.&nbsp;Scholarships are frequently overlooked as a financial resource. In reality, older students often hold an edge: clearer academic objectives, stronger applications, and personal stories that carry real weight. Many respondents noted that combining multiple smaller scholarships over time helped them substantially reduce financial strain during their studies.&nbsp;n addition, on-campus roles such as teaching assistantships, research positions, or part-time administrative jobs are often viewed as strategic choices: while the pay is not high, the income is stable, flexible, and less likely to conflict with academic schedules.&nbsp;Finally, some people choose institutions with lower tuition fees or online learning formats such as Memorial University in Newfoundland where annual tuition is around CAD 5,000. This may not be the most polished or conventional path, but in a context where cost optimization is critical to a career transition, it represents a practical option.<h2>4. The Real Question at 27</h2>Looking at the issue as a whole, the core problem is not entirely about money, but about one’s willingness to accept trade-offs.&nbsp;That is why the real question is not&nbsp;“Do I have enough money to go back to school?”&nbsp;But rather&nbsp;“How long can I accept a lower standard of living, so that real change has the chance to happen?”<meta charset="utf-8"><figure class="image"><img style="aspect-ratio:500/500;margin-left:0px;margin-top:0px;" src="https://loa-portal-ap-southeast-1.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/11764/image.png" alt="The Real Question" width="500" height="500" uploadprocessed="true"><figcaption>The Real Question</figcaption></figure>There is no universal answer for everyone. But without the courage to face this question honestly, many people remain stuck not because they lack dreams, but because they do not know how to live while those dreams are still being built.&nbsp;<meta charset="utf-8">Read more:<meta charset="utf-8"><ul style="margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-inline-start:48px;"><li style="background-color:transparent;color:#3c78d8;font-family:'Be Vietnam Pro',sans-serif;font-size:12pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;list-style-type:disc;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;" dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://loaportal.com/en/news/pilot-program-no-longer-accepting-applications-in-2026">Pilot Program No Longer Accepting Applications in 2026</a>&nbsp;</li><li style="background-color:transparent;color:#3c78d8;font-family:'Be Vietnam Pro',sans-serif;font-size:12pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;list-style-type:disc;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;" dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><meta charset="utf-8"><a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://loaportal.com/en/news/mitt-officially-closes-when-educational-models-collapse-under-policy-shifts">MITT Officially Closes: When Educational Models Collapse Under Policy Shifts</a></li></ul>

Changing Careers at 27 in Canada: How Do You Actually Afford Going Back to School?

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