Chapter 6: Canada: 1989

Elon moves to Canada to attend Queen's University in Ontario, living first with relatives in Saskatchewan before settling in Toronto. This chapter covers his early college years and his growing intellectual ambitions during a formative period away from South Africa.

Elon Musk left South Africa in 1989 to pursue education in North America, initially staying with his cousin in a barn in Saskatchewan before relocating to Toronto to attend Queen's University. During this period, he immersed himself in reading and self-directed learning, exploring science fiction, physics, and technology. He worked various jobs to support himself and lived modestly in a Toronto bedroom while developing his intellectual interests and beginning to formulate ideas about technology and the future. This chapter establishes the foundation for his later entrepreneurial pursuits and shows how his time in Canada shaped his independence and self-reliance. His experiences during these years reflected a deliberate effort to distance himself from his family circumstances and establish his own path.