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 2023, refer to the 2023-2024 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 navigate to your calendar in the Undergraduate Studies Academics Calendar using the "List of Undergraduate Studies Archived Calendars" in the left-hand menu.
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 Faculty of Arts.
| Requirements | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Minimum course units (excluding Professional Development (PD) courses and co-op work term reports) | 20.0 units |
| Minimum co-op work-term units | 2.5 units |
| Minimum PD course units | 2.5 units |
| Minimum work reports | 2.0 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) | 2.0 units |
| Maximum allowed units of course attempts (excluding PD courses and co-op work term reports) | 25.0 units |
| Minimum number of full-time terms | 8 full-time terms |
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Course changes
The CFM undergraduate calendar has undergone many changes since 2021. See which courses have changed or been removed in recent years.
| Old course requirement | New course requirement |
|---|---|
| AFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Accounting | Became AFM 191 - Foundations for Financial Reporting |
| AFM 102 - Introduction to Managerial Accounting | Became AFM 182 - Foundations for Management Accounting. No longer a required course for students as of the 2021-2022 calendar |
| AFM 121 - Introduction to Global Financial Markets | Became CFM 101 - Introduction to Financial Markets and Data Analytics |
| AFM 131 - Introduction to Business in North America | Became AFM 132 - Introduction to Business Stages |
| AFM 231 - Business Law | No longer a required course for students as of the 2021-2022 calendar |
| AFM 275 - Corporate Finance | Will become AFM 274 - Introduction to Corporate Finance starting in the 2023-2024 calendar |
| AFM 372 - Corporate Finance 2 |
New courses for the 2021-2022 CFM calendar
| 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. |
* Note: If you began your studies before 2021 and want to take CFM 301 and/or CFM 401, do not change calendars. We will credit these courses as equivalent to your AFM 300 or AFM 400 arts electives.
The first offering of CFM 401 is slated for Fall 2024.
New course for the 2023-2024 calendar
| Course code | Course description |
|---|---|
| CS136L - Tools and Techniques for Software Development | This course builds on the techniques and patterns learned in CS 135 while making the transition to use an imperative language. It introduces the design and analysis of algorithms, the management of information, and the programming mechanisms and methodologies required in implementations. Topics discussed include iterative and recursive sorting algorithms; lists, stacks, queues, trees, and their application; abstract data types and their implementations. |
Course planning
With limited-term course offerings and mandatory co-op requirements to graduate, it's a good idea to plan your studies early.
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 year* | PDF version (printer-friendly) |
|---|---|
| 2023-2024 | Recommended sequence of courses |
| 2022-2023 | Recommended sequence of courses |
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2021-2022 |
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| 2020-2021 | |
| 2019-2020 | Recommended sequence of courses |
| 2018-2019 | Recommended sequence of courses |
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*If you're unsure of which calendar you should follow, use the calendar year that you entered into the CFM program with as your default. From there, double check that you are satisfying all of the calendar requirements. If you have taken classes that are not part of your original calendar, you may need to follow a different calendar to satisfy your degree requirements. You can choose to follow whichever calendar you want for your studies but you can only follow the degree requirements of ONE undergraduate calendar. |
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Pre-requisite sequence of courses (terms courses are offered)
You'll be required to complete introductory classes to progress in your academics. These courses are called pre-requisites. Some of these courses are offered in limited terms. Make sure to plan your courses carefully to ensure that you are following all of your degree requirements.
Use the downloadable PDF of our most recent pre-requisite sequence of course to plan your course schedule. You can also use the online schedule of courses to review this information.
Common electives that CFM students take
There are a number of required computer science, math and accounting and financial management courses to take in your studies, but which electives should you choose?
Our common electives list of courses taken by CFM students shows which classes our students typically choose.
Computer science courses not requiring CS251 or CS350
You are not required to take CS 251 or CS 350 but a number of upper year computer science courses require these pre-requisites. Our list of upper year computer science courses not requiring CS251 or CS350 shows which computer science classes do not require these prequisites.