Degree requirements and course planning

Degree requirements and courses can change from year to year. It's important that you know your degree requirements to make the right decisions for your course planning (jump to course planning).

Which academic calendar should I follow?

Unless you are choosing to a follow a specific calendar, it is recommended that you use the calendar for the year that you began your studies in Computing and Financial Management (CFM) to determine your degree requirements for graduation. For example, if you began your studies in 2015, refer to the 2015-2016 calendar. All of your requirements can be found in the Undergraduate Studies Academic Calendar.

In choosing a calendar, it's important to note that...

You may choose to follow any undergraduate calendar issued during your studies.
You are required to meet ALL of the conditions and requirements of ONE calendar, including any new academic policies. You may not pick and choose requirements from different calendars.
The calendar changes each year and defaults to the newest version of the calendar. Make sure to favourite your calendar in your browser to ensure that you are referring to the correct degree requirements.
The 2021-2022 calendar will include many new curriculum changes.

Degree requirements

A summary of the current degree requirements are listed below. Find your specific calendar requirements in the List of Undergraduate Archived Calendars and navigate to Computing and Financial Management under the Faculty of Mathematics or the Facuty of Arts.

Requirements	Measurement
Minimum course units (excluding Professional Development (PD) courses and co-op work term reports)	20 units
Minimum co-op work-term units	2.5 units
Minimum PD course units	2.5 units
Minimum work reports	2 units
Minimum Cumulative Average (CAV)	60%
Minimum Major Average (MAV)	60%
Minimum Special Major Average (SMAV)	70%
Maximum excluded/failed course units (excluding PD courses and co-op work term reports)	2 units
Maximum allowed units of course attempts (excluding PD courses and co-op work term reports)	25 units
Minimum number of full-time terms	8 full-time terms
1 course is 0.5 units 1 work term is 0.5 units 1 PD course is 0.5 units MAV: average of all Faculty of Math courses, including computer science SMAV: average of all Faculty of Arts courses, including accounting and financial management Excluded course: a course taken between fall 2004 and spring 2013 either with a grade below 50 (failure), or that a student has voluntarily excluded

NEW! CFM curriculum changes starting Fall 2021

Starting in fall 2021, the 2021-2022 calendar will see the introduction of two new CFM-specific courses. Students enrolled in the CFM program who are following this calendar will have access to these classes to count towards their degree requirements. Students who are following a different calendar may count these courses as general electives or speak with the Program Manager about counting CFM 301 as an equivalent arts elective.

Course code	Course description
CFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Markets and Data Analytics	This course introduces financial markets and institutions, commonly used financial big data, and data schema and visualization therein. It covers fundamental functions of financial institutions and their usage of large data, and basic financial data management techniques. The course will focus on buy side institutions and stock market data.
CFM 301 - Intermediate Financial Data Analytics	This course covers financial data analytics in the areas of asset pricing, securities trading, and portfolio management. It covers data usage and application in basic testing of asset pricing theories, trading algorithms and strategies, back-testing techniques, and aspects of portfolio management associated with trading strategies.
CFM 401 - Topics in Financial Data Analytics	This course introduces current topics in financial data analytics.
These classes are not currently available in the 2020-2021 calendar.

In addition to these new courses, many AFM courses will be updated with new course codes and/or course descriptions in the fall 2021-2022 calendar.

Current course	Course update (starting fall 2021)
AFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Accounting	Will become AFM 191 - Foundations for Financial Reporting
AFM 121 - Introduction to Global Financial Markets	Will become CFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Markets and Data Analytics
AFM 131 - Introduction to Business in North America	Will become AFM 132 - Introduction to Business Stages
AFM 231 - Business Law	Will no longer be a required course but may be taken as an arts elective
AFM 372 - Corporate Finance 2	Will become AFM 275/ACTSC 391 - Corporate Finance

Course planning

With limited-term course offerings and mandatory co-op requirements to graduate, it's a good idea to plan your studies early.

To help with your planning, you can refer to the resources available to you including our:

possible sequence of courses
pre-requisite chain of courses
common electives taken by CFM students
and computer science courses that do not require CS 251 (Computer Organization and Design) or CS 350 (Operating Systems)

Possible sequence of courses

If you are trying to determine which courses to take each year, the resources below are a possible plan for your studies. They take into account the limited terms that courses are offered, making your planning easier. Choose the appropriate calendar year for your studies and use the web or downloadable PDF version for your review.

For full details on limited-term course offerings, please refer to the pre-requisite chain of courses in the next drop down option.

Undergraduate calendar(s)*	Web version	PDF version (printer-friendly)
2021-2022 (not currently in effective)	N/A	Fall 2021 start (not currently in effect) - Possible sequence of courses
2020-2021	Winter 2021 start (for deferrals only) - Possible sequence of courses Fall 2020 start - Possible sequence of courses	Winter 2021 start (for deferrals only) - Possible sequence of courses Fall 2020 start - Possible sequence of courses
2019-2020	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
2018-2019	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
2014-2015	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
2012-2013, 2013-2014	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
2011-2012	Possible sequence of courses	Possible sequence of courses
* If you're unsure of which calendar you should be following, use the calendar year that you entered into CFM as your default. From there, double check that you are satisfying all of the requirements in this calendar. If you have taken classes that are not part of your original calendar, you may need to follow a different calendar for your degree requirements. You can choose to follow whichever calendar you want for your studies but you can only follow the degree requirements in one undergraduate calendar.

Pre-requisite sequence of courses (terms courses are offered)

Most of the courses in your studies will require you to complete introductory, our pre-requisite classes, to progress in your academics. Some of these courses are only offered on a limited-time basis. You should make sure to plan your schedule carefully when choosing your courses to ensure that you are following all of your degree requirements. To help with your planning, use the downloadable PDF of our most recent pre-requisite sequence of courses . You can also use the online schedule of courses to review this information.

If you are interested in changing your study or co-op sequence, please make sure to consider the pre-requisite sequence of courses and availability of your classes.

Common electives taken by CFM students

There are a number of interesting computer science, accounting and finance, economics and other upper year courses to choose from to customize your studies but how do you choose what to take with limited space for electives?

We have compiled a common electives list of courses taken by CFM students for you to plan your schedule early.

Computer science courses not requiring CS251 or CS350

As a CFM student, you are not required to take CS 251 or CS 350 to fulfill your studies. However, a number of upper year computer science courses require these classes as pre-requisites. To find out which computer science electives, without taking these classes, you can refer to our list of upper year computer science courses not requiring CS251 or CS350. Spaces fill up quickly in computer science courses so make sure to plan ahead and consider lots of options.

Make sure when you're planning your schedule, to consider the pre-requisite sequence of courses to ensure that you're taking the necessary required courses first.