COVID FAQs for admitted (new) students

If your school board delays posting final results, we will adjust deadlines as needed. If your school board, province, etc., cancels final exams or otherwise adjusts its usual grading practices, we will accept the results provided by those schools as final grades, once we have been officially informed. For exam-based systems of study that have cancelled exams, we will use the grades that are provided as your final grades to meet the grade-related conditions on your Offer of Admission.

We recognize that the global pandemic has had a profound impact upon your school experience. In many school and regions, accessing results to courses, exams, and testing may be delayed. When a verifiable delay occurs, we’ll adjust our expectations accordingly.

Yes, we will accept new test results as they become available. BASE results must be received by our Registrar's Office by August 15.  Learn how to submit your scores.

For iBASE, results must arrive by the posted deadline.

Yes, you can apply to live in residence for September – and we're taking lots of steps to keep students healthy and safe.

Choosing to live in residence is one of the best ways to build new relationships, support your academics, and feel a sense of belonging at Waterloo. With a commitment to putting your needs first especially during these challenging times, Campus Housing and our University Colleges are the most understanding housing providers in the city and offering student-centered practices and policies to best support you.

Our residences are open to students and the Residence Guarantee Application Form for fall 2022 housing is open until June 1. We've implemented a wide variety of cleaning and public health initiatives to keep students and our residence life staff safe and healthy.

• Choosing on-campus residence at Waterloo is the most stable option. With a commitment to putting your needs first, Campus Housing and our University Colleges are the most understanding landlords in town and will adjust their practices and policies to best support you.
• Waterloo's first-year residences offer personal and academic support such as Living Learning Communities, residence life staff, and social activities to help you adjust to living away from home.
• Campus Housing and our University Colleges are excited to welcome and support you as you begin your studies at Waterloo.

To guarantee your space in residence, accept your Offer of Admission and submit your Residence Guarantee Application Form and $500 deposit by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on June 1, 2022.

Campus Housing works in ongoing partnership with Waterloo’s Public Health and Emergency Services Unit, Campus Wellness, and the Safety Office. Decisions about building closures and what rooms will be available are based on their advisement and will reflect the utmost caution in keeping our residence communities safe.

For the fall 2022 term, decisions will be made with their advisement, and in tandem with decisions about the academic term. Currently for fall 2022, we anticipate double rooms with roommates pairs and all buildings being open. Please check our website for ongoing updates.

We are offering in-person tours for registered visitors.

We'll continue to offer regularly scheduled live virtual tours plus webinars and other tours if you're unable to visit campus in person.

Athletics and recreation

Our Athletics and Recreation department is running virtual and in-person events and activities, including

• in-person intramurals such as soccer, volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, ultimate, and more;
• in-person facilities including fitness centres, skating rink, pool, climbing wall, gyms for drop-in basketball and badminton, and field house;
• in-person fitness classes including yoga, cycle, kickboxing, and Zumba; and
• on-demand virtual fitness classes, webinars, and online personal training.

Clubs, student-run services, and events

Clubs supported by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) will be back in full swing this fall with in-person activities taking place on campus. In-person events will also return including WUSA's annual Welcome Week, niche events put on by WUSA's student-run services, and faculty specific events run by your student society. Some online events will also still be available, but the majority of activities to connect with your fellow Waterloo students will be back in-person.

Student Success Office

Follow @UWaterlooLife for highlights of online and physically-distanced events and opportunities. You can also get involved with the online leadership or meet with a peer success coach. International students can join the International Peer Community to meet other students from outside Canada.

Make your own opportunities

Whether you’re taking classes in person or online, you can create your own opportunities to meet people, such as when you’re paired with classmates for group assignments. If classes aren’t in person, you could suggest video chats (or socially-distanced meetups) with some of your group members to talk about school or life in general.

Waterloo Ready is a comprehensive online initiative in the months leading up to your first term. It’s an opportunity to get to know other students, learn about what to expect from Waterloo, and to find out everything you need to know to prepare for your first year as a Waterloo Warrior. You can also follow @UWaterlooLife for a glimpse of life as a Waterloo student and for details about fall Orientation.

Please apply for your student visa as soon as possible after receiving your Offer of Admission and Letter of Acceptance. Applying immediately will ensure that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has as much time as possible to process your application.

In order to ensure success in your program, you must arrive on campus by September 27, 2022. If you are unable to arrive by September 27, we may be able to consider you for a deferred admission, please contact myapplication@uwaterloo.ca. 

Information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continues to change. We recommend that you contact Waterloo's Immigration Consulting team if you have some questions you'd like to discuss.

Almost all Offers of Admission have conditions since most students are actively taking courses at the time of their acceptance. Offer conditions allow us to ensure the integrity of our process. Final results must come to us directly from their source. We use final grades to verify that all our incoming students achieved the results needed for success in their accepted program. Final grades may also be used for additional scholarship consideration if the grades achieved surpass those provided at the time of our admissions decision.

Please follow the instructions on your Offer of Admission and apply for your student visa as soon as possible after receiving your acceptance. You do not need to meet your offer conditions prior to applying for your student visa.

Waterloo’s co-op program and other experiential education opportunities help prepare you for your future career. Experiential education teaches valuable skills that help you navigate uncertain and changing landscapes.

As a Waterloo student, you'll have access to co-op and career resources including

• co-op advisors to support you through your co-op journey;
• career advisors to help your prepare for your career;
• an international team to support students working abroad;
• career fairs, employer information sessions, and other events to help you network with employers;
• free professional development and digital skills courses to help you prepare for your first work term;
• online groups to help you meet other students while on a work term; and
• specialized mental health, accessibility, harassment, and international student resources.

Follow @uwaterloocoop_cee on Instagram and @UWaterlooCoopCEE on Facebook to find out about workshops and events. You'll also get tips to help with your job search, interviews, and more.

Despite the impacts of the pandemic, more than 23,000 students secured co-op work terms in 2021. Strong relationships with our global network of over 7,100 employers and alumni helped us to find more opportunities in organizations that already hire students as well as with new employers.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have adjusted our processes and provided innovative new offerings to help you navigate the changes. This means continued use of resources, many of which are funded through the co-op fee, to develop new job opportunities for students, streamline processes, and establish additional supports and resources for students with the help of our campus partners.

Although it is impossible to know exactly what the future of work will look like, our Work-Learn Institute is continuously conducting research to understand the future of work. We can expect that jobs and career paths as we understand them today are going to fundamentally change in ways that have not been imagined or even created yet.

Research makes it clear that an adaptable and resilient workforce is key to economic recovery – just as adaptable and resilient students and co-op programs have been key to keeping students employed during the pandemic.

We’ll automatically award most entrance scholarships, including the President’s and Merit Scholarships, based on your admission average. Your admission average consists of your best six Grade 12 U or M courses (or equivalent depending on your system of study), including all of the required courses for the program you applied to.

We normally award these scholarships in mid-May based on the grades available at that time. If you're enrolled in a quadmester secondary school in Ontario, we may not we may not have the right number or combination of grades in May to determine an admission average for scholarship purposes.

If we’re unable to calculate an admission average, we’ll wait until your school sends grades for the rest of your Grade 12 courses. We’ll then assign the highest scholarship that you’re eligible for. We’ll email you once this happens and you’ll also be able to view details in Quest. Select the Admissions tile, click on the name of your program, then look for the Entrance Awards tab beside the applicable program.