Mandatory Fees

Insurance

University of Alberta Health Insurance Plan (UAHIP)
All students attending the University of Alberta for less than 12 months who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents and who therefore do not have Alberta Health Care Insurance are required to participate in the University of Alberta Health Insurance Program (UAHIP) and to pay the required premiums to the University of Alberta for this health insurance. A waiver cannot be given for any other health insurance.

Upon confirmation of registration at the University of Alberta, students will automatically be enrolled in UAHIP. A claim form must be completed at each visit by the patient and given to the physician for completion. The total premium for the semester must be paid upon arrival.

This plan is administered by the International Student and Visitor Services (ISVS), which can be reached via the Student Service portal. For more information on health insurance, please visit the UAHIP page.

In the meantime, please note the following potential UAHIP limitations so that you can ensure that you have appropriate health insurance coverage prior to arriving in Alberta:

  1. We recommend that you are up to date with any immunizations/vaccinations that you may need prior to your arrival as some are not covered by the plan.
  2. Regular dental care services (e.g., checkups, cleanings, fillings, x-rays), eyeglasses, and frames or contact lenses are NOT covered.
  3. Prescription medication has a certain maximum coverage per calendar year. In the past, it has only been covered up to $500.
  4. It will not provide you with coverage while you are in transit on your way to and from your exchange at UAlberta. The purchase of traveller's health insurance is recommended.
  5. UAHIP might not provide you with sufficient coverage for any existing medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, cancer, etc.) that you might have.
  6. It might not cover all of your medical needs for travel outside of Alberta during your exchange.

As soon as possible after your arrival at UAlberta, we encourage you to set up a Canadian bank account. Any reimbursements for UAHIP claims will need to be deposited electronically into a Canadian bank account.

Supplementary Insurance

Due to the limitations above, you are encouraged to acquire supplementary coverage for your exchange before you leave home, as options for purchase in Canada will be limited.

 

Local Transportation

U-Pass / Arc Card
 The Universal Transit Pass (U-Pass) will give students unlimited access to regular Edmonton, St. Albert, and Strathcona County Transit services for Fall (September - December) and Winter (January - April) academic terms. The U-Pass is a partnership between the University, the Students' Union, the Graduate Students' Association and the three participating municipalities. All students registered at the University of Alberta Edmonton Campuses are automatically enrolled in the U-Pass system. Fees are assessed and collected from exchange students by the International Centre upon arrival. Your University of Alberta Student Identification Card (ONEcard) with a U-Pass validation sticker is used as your transit pass. For more information, please visit the U-Pass Homepage.

 

Course Materials Access

Beginning Fall 2026, all University of Alberta undergraduate students, including visiting exchange students, will be assessed a “Course Materials Access” (CMA) fee. Previously, undergraduate students were responsible for purchasing textbooks and other materials for their specific courses on an individual basis. The CMA program is meant in part to replace that, by providing easy access to all course materials (including textbooks, literature, online publisher courseware, most lab manuals, coursepacks and software applications) for a student's classes from one location for a flat fee per term (currently $259/semester).

The CMA is based on individual registration, so if a student is not taking any courses with associated materials, they will automatically be opted out of this program and no fees will be charged. If a student is registered in one or more courses with associated materials, the access fee will be applied.

Please note that any student can choose to opt-out of the CMA program, even if they are taking courses with associated materials. Opting out will remove the fee and students will not pay it. Opting out would NOT mean that students are unable to access the course materials in other ways. There will still be the possibility to obtain course materials for any specific class on an individual basis from the University of Alberta Bookstore (to obtain course materials separately from the Course Materials Access program and to check prices through the Bookstore, please review the University of Alberta Bookstore Textbook website). Opting out of the CMA fee will therefore not put students at a disadvantage or prohibit them from being successful in a course where the course materials are needed. The CMA program might, however, make it more convenient, and possibly cheaper, to access all materials at once, from a single source. The flat fee for course material access could represent a significant decrease in cost for students who need materials for most or all of their courses. Conversely, the flat fee might also be more than the students would need to pay if they only have one or two courses with associated course materials and could obtain those individually through other means for less than the CMA fee.

This gives students more options and flexibility to obtain the course materials they need, but requires them to make the personal decision to opt out or stay in the program. By default, the Course Materials Access fee will be charged to all exchange students. The deadline to opt out of the CMA Program is usually one week after the registration add/drop deadline (around September 22 for Fall term and January 22 for Winter term). Students should review their course registrations to determine if the CMA fee would be advantageous or not to them.

For more information, please visit the Course Materials Access page at the Office of the Registrar or contact cmaprogram@ualberta.ca.

 

You may submit payment for these fees before arriving or after you start your semester in Edmonton. The deadline to pay these fees is usually around the end of the month in which you start your studies (late September for Fall; late January for Winter term). Please view the "Payment Options" in the link above for more information. If you neglect to pay these fees, please be aware that the University of Alberta will not release your transcript at the conclusion of your studies.