Come to Waterloo

Come to Waterloo!

Whether you are thinking about joining us in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo for an exchange or have already been accepted and are starting to plan your trip, this is the page for you.

Below, you will find resources to answer all the questions you may have about planning your stay in Waterloo, exploring the region, finding things to do on campus and where to find information for all of the important stuff, like choosing your courses and applying for a study permit.

How to apply

Learn all about the application process on the Student Success Office website and find out more about what it’s like to be an exchange student at Waterloo from Cathal, Si Yon, Chriz, and Kirstine!

Choosing Courses

Find courses that will be offered during the term you'll be here for your exchange.

To find courses that will be offered during the Winter 2021 term, you should look at our Schedule of Classes for Undergraduate Students. Be sure to select “1211” as the term, select a subject from the list (e.g. GEOG, ERS, etc.) and then leave the course number field blank, to see all of the courses in that subject that will be running this fall. If a course doesn’t show up, it is not being offered during the selected term.

To find courses that will be offered during the Spring 2021 term, be sure to select "1215" as the term. You can send your list of courses you would like to take in Spring 2021, to J aime Fohkens.

Find out which courses you’d be able to take.

You’ll want to check the list of restricted courses for undergraduate exchange students, to find out which courses you won't be able to take, as an exchange student.
You will then have to check the Academic Calendar to see if there are any restrictions for the courses you're interested in taking (i.e. only open to certain programs, prerequisites listed, etc.). If a course does not have any notes after the course description, or only says “Prereq: Level at least 2A” (or 3A), you will be approved to take the course. If there are prerequisites listed or a note about the course only being open to a specific program, the department will have to approve you to take the course. If you look at the courses that are listed as prerequisites, you will likely have an idea of whether you have covered similar material in one of the courses you've already taken at your home institution. If you've never taken a course related to the prerequisite course that's listed, the course will likely not be approved for you.
Send the courses you'd like to take to Jaime Fohkens, and she will find out whether you are approved to take the courses listed (please do not contact the departments directly).

Find out more about the courses in Environment (course descriptions and outlines/syllabi).

We offer a variety of courses in the Faculty of Environment:

You can find course outlines/syllabi for most of our Environment courses, from previous years, on our Environment Course Information page. The outlines will give you a better idea of the structure of our courses (assessments, types of classes, readings, etc.) and the content that will be covered.

Course selection and course enrolment

If you have been admitted to the Faculty of Environment for your exchange, please contact Jaime Fohkens to make any changes to your course selection or enrolment, as you won't be able to make those changes yourself in Quest.

Some of our courses that are required for specific programs in Environment (e.g. Environment and Business, Planning), may be difficult to get into early, as we need to make sure that everyone who needs to take the course, to satisfy their degree requirements, is able to get into the course first. These classes tend to be quite small and only have space available for the students in those specific programs, but we can try closer to the start of the term to get you enrolled in a course.

What is course selection?

Course selection is your wish list of courses you would like to take during your exchange term. This happens before classes have been scheduled for the term, which means that while you want to take those courses, there may be time conflicts that come up or courses may fill up, keeping you from being enrolled in the course. Please contact Jaime and she will help you find other courses that you may be able to take instead.

What is course enrolment?

Course enrolment happens when the schedule has been made for the term. You may only be enrolled in some of the courses that you listed in your course selection, as the other courses you requested may have time conflicts with each other, be full, or the spots in the course may be reserved for students in specific programs. These spots may become available closer to the start of term, but you should start looking for other courses that may work with your schedule, if this happens.

FAQs (Frequently asked questions)

Q: Only a couple of the courses I listed in my exchange application were approved. What do I do?

A: Read the section above about course selection and course enrolment. It may be that the remaining spots are reserved for students in other programs or the courses that you weren't enrolled in don't work with your schedule.

Q: I'm trying to make changes to my courses in Quest but it won't work. Why?

A: As an exchange student, you are not able to make changes yourself. All course changes and approvals must go through Jaime Fohkens.

International student guide

The Student Success Office has created the International Student Guide to answer most of the questions you will have about coming to Canada. If you are wondering where you should live, what to pack, how much things will cost, how to adjust to Canadian culture, or even how to get to Waterloo from the airport, this is the place to look!