First year university in Canada: what really changes

The biggest change: you run your own week

In high school, teachers check homework, remind you about tests and see you almost every day. In first year, a large course may meet for about three hours a week, and nobody checks whether you did the reading. The material that took a high school class weeks might be covered in a lecture or two. Many students find that first-term marks dip compared with Grade 12, and that is normal while you adjust.

What works is building a weekly routine early: a set time to review each course's notes within a day or two of the lecture, a block for problem sets, and a weekly look at what is due over the next two weeks. Short, spaced review sessions do more than one long night before a midterm. Our study skills for university flashcards cover techniques such as retrieval practice and planning a term.

The syllabus is the rulebook

In the first week every course posts a syllabus (also called a course outline). Read it fully, because it is the document your instructor will point to when questions come up. It normally tells you:

• How your final mark is calculated, for example 20 percent assignments, 30 percent midterm and 50 percent final exam.
• Due dates and the policy on late work.
• What happens if you miss a test because you are sick, and what documentation is needed.
• Whether collaboration on assignments is allowed, and the course's rules on tools such as generative AI.
• Office hours, teaching assistant contacts and where course materials are posted.

A useful habit: on day one, copy every test and due date from every syllabus into one calendar. Seeing that three midterms land in the same week in October is much better in September than in October.

Office hours, TAs and asking for help

Office hours are set times when your professor or teaching assistant is available for questions. They are meant for every student, not only students who are struggling, and they are one of the most underused resources in first year. Bring a specific question, such as a problem you attempted and where you got stuck. Large courses also have tutorials or labs led by TAs, and many universities run free drop-in centres for math, writing and science.

Ask early. Help is easy to get in week three and much harder to use well in week eleven.

Add, drop and withdrawal dates

Universities give you a short window at the start of each term to change courses. After that, dropping a course usually leaves a mark on your transcript and may cost you part of the tuition. UBC's 2026 Winter Term 1 dates show how this works.

Before dropping, check how your course load affects scholarships, student loans, residence and, for international students, immigration status. UBC lists all of these as things a change can affect, and the same is true at most universities. An academic advisor can help you decide.

Academic integrity is taken seriously

Every Canadian university has a policy on academic misconduct. The University of Toronto's Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, updated July 1, 2025, is a good example of what these policies cover: plagiarism (presenting someone else's ideas or words as your own), using or possessing unauthorized aids or assistance, and resubmitting work done for another course without the instructor's knowledge and approval. It also states that an offence can be committed if a student ought reasonably to have known the rule, so not knowing is not a reliable defence.

In practice, that means citing sources properly, checking each course's rule on group work and on AI tools, and asking if you are unsure. Our academic writing and citation flashcards and the free academic writing course cover how to cite and paraphrase well.

Accessibility services and accommodations

If you have a disability, including a learning disability, ADHD, a mental health condition or a chronic illness, your university's accessibility office can arrange academic accommodations such as extra test time or alternative formats. In Ontario this follows the Human Rights Code and the Ontario Human Rights Commission's 2018 policy on accessible education. Accommodations change how you show what you know, not the standard you are held to.

The key difference from high school is that nothing transfers automatically. You register with the office, provide documentation from a licensed practitioner, and follow its procedures and deadlines, such as booking tests ahead. Your instructors usually receive only a letter listing your accommodations, not your medical details. Register before or in the first weeks of term, even if you are not sure you will need it.

Your first-month checklist

1. Download every syllabus and copy all test and due dates into one calendar.
2. Find your registrar's important dates page and note the add and drop deadline.
3. Visit at least one office hour or help centre in the first three weeks.
4. Read your university's academic integrity page and each course's rules on collaboration and AI tools.
5. If you might need accommodations, contact accessibility services now.
6. Set a weekly review time for each course and keep it.
7. Check your university email daily; official notices go there.
8. Find your faculty's academic advising office before you need it.

If you are still in Grade 12, the high school to university bridge and our university life in Canada flashcards help you prepare before you arrive. For a sense of how your marks will be reported, read our guide to Canadian GPA scales, and science students can preview the pace with the university calculus course.