Amazon Prime Student Canada: How Does It Work, Eligibility, Price, And More  

Amazon, as a retail platform, offers a vast selection of products from all over the world, digital content (movies, books, and music) and fairly low prices. Those who buy anything from books to cosmetics and even furniture on Amazon, know that in addition to impressive stock, special offerings, such as a Prime membership, make shopping more convenient. However, Amazon Prime comes at a steep price for students who are already paying a high price for their education. Perhaps because the majority of students make Amazon their primary shopping destination (convenient to buy, and get shipped straight to a dorm or apartment, stacks of notepads, pens and electronics), Amazon Prime for students comes at a 50% reduced price.   

Yet, the Prime Student plan does not reduce available benefits. Students (available to post-secondary only) enjoy the same free one- and two-day delivery as other members. The only difference students will experience, compared to regular Amazon Prime members is the subscription duration. Student Prime is only available for a maximum of four years. After that, it will be converted into a standard Amazon Prime subscription.   

Any student enrolled at a post-secondary institution and has a student email address is eligible to sign up for Prime Student. Simply sign up for Amazon Prime with your student email. Amazon will send a verification link to your college or university to confirm your status. After verification, you can continue using your regular account for orders and delivery notifications.   

However, if your school does not provide you with an email address (which could be the case with some smaller or local colleges), you can send Amazon a photo or screenshot of any proof of your enrollment such as a student ID with an expiration date, transcript or class list for the current semester, tuition bill for the current term or an official acceptance letter.   

Most people would not try to commit fraud by providing a false email, however, it makes sense to mention what happens if you sign up for Student Prime, but are not a student. If Amazon determines that the information you provided is false, you will receive a bill with the difference between Student membership and Prime membership payments.   

Amazon Prime Student in Canada costs $4.99 per month or $49 per year with the savings annual plan. If you reside in Quebec, where automatic charges after a free trial are not permitted, you will pay (as per Amazon’s offer) $4.99 for the first seven months, or receive 18-month membership for $49.   

As soon as four years are over, or after your graduation, your subscription will switch automatically to the standard Amazon Prime plan. You can cancel the plan at any time, but do not do it before your free six-month trial is over. Otherwise, you will not be able to re-enter. The good news is that if you were using a Prime membership and decided to switch to Prime Student, you will receive a refund for the remaining time left on your subscription.  

As soon as you sign up for Prime membership make sure to take advantage of every available benefit whether physical or digital. Prepare your room for studying, order Christmas gifts, purchase books, and stream movies.   

Free and fast delivery  

One of the best perks of Prime membership, whether a standard or Student is free delivery that takes one or two days. To get something similar to this from other online retailers you would have to reach a certain order price, while Amazon does not require minimum size orders to ship it for free. (Keep in mind that some deliveries still will require an additional charge, such as import fees.)  

Deals   

All Prime members can access sales and deals before main sales begin.   

Access to Prime TV and Amazon Music   

With Prime membership, you can stream shows, and movies and play music (requires additional charges of $0.99/month). The exclusive content you could access is Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Wheel of Time and other. (For some movies and shows you would have to purchase an additional subscription). As for music, Prime provides you with access to 2 million+ songs and is ad-free on Amazon Music.   

Photos storage   

Not everyone knows or uses this feature, but Prime Amazon Photos offers you unlimited full-resolution storage for photos and 5 GB of videos.

Are there other special benefits for students besides Amazon Prime?

Amazon Student membership offers $5 to every student that has been referred and a student that referred a friend. Amazon provides a special referral form you could send to to invite another student or by sharing a link on social media.    

How can I get Amazon Prime at even more budget-friendly price?  

Typically, two adults in the same household can share membership benefits. The same could apply to student roommates (you would have to get the regular plan and split the cost). Yet, in a long run, the difference in the cost would be only a few dollars extra.   

Another option is to get a standard Amazon Prime membership, use it when you are planning many purchases and cancel it during the months when your shopping game slows down.   

Which items qualify for free shipping with Amazon Prime?  

When you subscribe to Amazon Prime most items will be shipped for free. Those items that sell directly or through qualified sellers are eligible for free two-day shipping. (Some are even delivered on the same day.) Even heavy items such as furniture or TV are shipped for free. The only time when you would have to pay for shipping is if you are purchasing items sold through third parties.   

Does a Prime Student membership provide access to Prime Video, Music and Kindle?  

While you would have to pay extra for reading books on Kindle and listening to music, most videos in the Prime Video library are available to any subscriber. However, if you are already satisfied with other streaming services such as Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and others, or if you have a different e-reader, simply use Amazon Prime for shopping.