Students enrolled in graduate programs at other Canadian universities may enrol at UBC as a visiting student in one of these ways:
Students at participating Universities in Western Canada can attend partner institutions as visiting students without having to pay the host university's tuition fees through the Western Dean's Agreement.
Students may be required to pay student, activity, application, or other ancillary fees to the host institution, according to general policies in effect at the host institution. Wherever possible, these fees will also be waived.
To visit UBC under the Western Dean's Agreement, please fill out the WDA Authorization Form available from your home institution. Please be sure to obtain the required signatures.
Application Deadline
Under the terms of the Western Deans' Agreement, fully-completed Western Deans' Agreement Authorization forms must be received by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at UBC a minimum of 6 weeks prior to the start of the term of enrollment at UBC. If a form is not received and approved in time, the student may not receive permission to take the course. In addition, the fee waiver is not available retroactively.
To qualify, you must:
- meet all deadlines for submitting the required paperwork
- be in good academic standing in a graduate program at the home institution
- be up-to-date in payment of all current and back fees at the home institution
- be seeking to take courses that are integral to your degree program and that are not offered at your home institution
Only students who are in graduate programs administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies are eligible for the WDA.
Courses taken by
List of institutions participating in the Western Deans' Agreement
The Graduate Exchange Agreement allows graduate students in good standing at UBC, McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Montreal to take courses at each other's universities without having to pay tuition fees to the host institution.
Students wishing to apply for visiting student status under the Graduate Exchange Agreement must use the Graduate Exchange Agreement: Authorization and Course Registration form.
Students with good academic standing at Canadian universities not participating in other exchange agreements may
If you do not meet the requirements for any of the above-named exchange agreements and wish to take courses at UBC, please contact the graduate program directly. The graduate program staff in your selected area of research can advise you on how to apply via the online system.
Visiting graduate students who wish to take credit courses must register for those courses and will be assessed tuition fees at the prevailing graduate per credit rate, plus authorized student fees.
Visiting graduate students who are engaged in research activity only (no courses) will be registered for the non-credit activity 'Visiting Graduate Student' (VGRD500). The fee for each registration in this activity, which covers either Winter Session Term 1 or Term 2, or Summer Session, is equal to the tuition fee for one credit of coursework plus authorized student fees.