University of Victoria (UVic)

Programme Details

Minimum mark 60%

Level Undergraduate

Language/s English

Agreement Scope History of Art department and University-wide exchange

Exchange Places 4 full year places for 2026/27

University of Victoria - Information for Exchange students

Events and information sessions

Overview

About:

The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is a research intensive university located in Victoria, on the British Columbia coast. The University's annual enrolment is about 22,000 students. UVic's campus is known for its innovative architecture, beautiful gardens and mild climate.

The University attracts many students in part because of its size, its picturesque location and ranking. The University is the nation's lead institution on the VENUS and NEPTUNE deep-water sea floor observatory projects.

Known as the "City of Gardens", Victoria is an attractive city and a popular tourist destination with a thriving technology sector that has risen to be its largest revenue-generating private industry. The city has a large non-local student population, with over 70% of students coming from outside Victoria, and more than 3,400 international students representing 100 different nationalities.

UVic is located minutes away from ocean, mountains, forests and city - a stunning west coast backdrop. Victoria is very popular with boaters with its beautiful and rugged shorelines and beaches. There is an extraordinary academic environment that inspires exploration and innovation, which will enrich the university experience like no other. UVic's 200 acres of green space will help find balance in the busy university life. As a mid-sized university, it's big enough to make an impact globally, but small enough to have a great community feel.

Contacts at UVic:

Contact goglobal@uvic.ca for more information.

Highlights:

The University of Victoria is recognised annually as one of Canada's top universities. UVic is rated #2 for Canadian Comprehensive Universities by Maclean's 2023. UVic was rated #2 by the Times Higher Education Climate Action Impact Rating of 2022 and is ranked #1 in North America for international research collaborations by Leiden University rankings.

Location:

Canada is renowned for its vast natural landscapes and diverse culture. British Columbia (BC), on the West Coast, is home to iconic mountains and stunning coastlines. Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, situated on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The climate is mild year-round, with the warmest winters in Canada, and more sunshine than many areas of coastal BC. It is a beautiful and welcoming city offering outdoor activities, an engaged community, a vibrant social scene, and a rich history that combines First Nations, British, European and Asian traditions. Attractions: Victoria is home to the world-famous Butchart Gardens, the Royal BC Museum, the BC Parliament Buildings and other historical buildings, sightseeing, whale watching, theatre and entertainment, and a broad array of cuisines.

Academic information

Courses / Modules:

Once students are accepted into the UVic ICS Student Exchange Program they will receive step-by-step instructions for course selection, course registration, and timetable planning in an email.

Course Catalogue: Undergraduate courses (examples from the current academic year, which are subject to change)

Please note, not all courses listed are offered every year and some restrictions on academic subject areas apply to exchange students.

Credit (Full-time Load per semester):

60 York credits = 7.5 UVic credits

120 York credits = 15 UVic credits

Therefore you should take 15 UVic credits a year to equal 120 York credits.

Teaching Periods:

Fall Term: September to December

Spring Term: January to April

Academic important dates

Language:

UVic courses are in English unless otherwise stated in the course description. You may need to prove your English ability when admitted.

Student life

Accommodation:

Residence Services at UVic offers on-campus dormitory rooms or cluster units (private bedroom with shared kitchen and living room). Dormitory rooms include a mandatory meal plan. Unfortunately, on-campus housing at UVic is too limited to guarantee spaces to exchange students. However, York students are still encouraged to apply for on-campus residence lottery in the first instance.

Students with specialised housing requirements or who require priority admittance to housing outside of current admissions practices or eligibility criteria, based on restrictions or limitations resulting from disability, chronic health conditions, dietary restrictions, or other considerations, are asked to submit a Priority Consideration Request (PCR) as part of their housing application.

Students can choose to organize their own living arrangements off campus. Students planning to live off campus should arrive ahead of the start of classes in order to allow for enough time to find housing. More information is available on the International Centre for Students website: Housing and finance (see 'Where to look for long-term accommodations' for off-campus housing search tips).

Homestay Program: UVic Homestay is a program which offers students an opportunity to stay with a local family.

Orientation / Welcome week:

UVic offers a comprehensive orientation program to assist new students with their transition to academic and student life in Canada. Incoming exchange students should plan to arrive in Canada in advance of the orientation events.

International Student Welcome event: Offers relevant information about immigration documents, health insurance, banking, cell phone plans, Canadian culture and much more.

UVic Orientation events: UVic offers orientation events for all new students. Registration is required for the International Students Welcome event and other UVic Orientation events. Details will be available on the UVic Orientation website a few months prior to the start of term.

Support Services:

The International Centre for Students has a team of immigration experts (the International Student Advising team) that can advise you on your Canadian immigration documents.

All exchange students will have access to the UVic Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) which works with faculty and students to promote educational accessibility for students with disabilities and chronic health conditions. Information about registration can be found on the universities web pages.

Wellness support is available to all students.

The Office of Student Life (OSL) works to create and enhance a safe and inclusive campus community in support of fairness, responsibility and respect for all.

Visas:

You may need a visa to study in Canada. If you are a UK National you must refer to the Travel Advice page for Canada and its 'Entry Requirements' guide to check on any visa requirements, and raise any queries directly with the relevant embassy/consulate. If you are not a UK national, you should check equivalent advice for your home country.

Information about immigration documents, health insurance, working in Canada, and other important topics is available on the International Centre for Students website: Living in Canada.

The International Student Advising (ISA) team provides non-academic support, such as pre-arrival considerations, settlement resources and immigration (e.g., study permit, work authorization) assistance for undergraduate and graduate international students who are seeking a UVic degree as well as exchange students who are visiting from other institutions.

Travel insurance:

If you are approved by the University of York to participate in this program, you will be covered by the University's Travel Insurance Policy. This is a complimentary policy to cover you for the duration of your University of York mobility experience. Please refer to the Insurance website for all travel insurance queries.

Health insurance:

All UVic students are required to have comprehensive coverage for the entire duration of their studies in Canada. Without coverage, you could be denied treatment or pay thousands of dollars each day for medical services. Exchange students are automatically enrolled in the guard.me@UVic medical insurance plan. This plan covers required medical services to address new and unexpected illness or injury. The coverage is for a registered student's first 4-month academic term at UVic.

Student experiences

You could be the first University of York student to study at and share your experiences of University of Victoria, as this destination is new for 2025/26! Please read the student experiences on some of our other sites as a guide, or check out the following to see what it is like to study at other universities in Canada:

Nicola, Natural Sciences, Year Abroad 2021/22

I absolutely loved living in Canada. While I was based in Vancouver, I was lucky enough to meet people not just from North America, but also from all over the world. UBC and Vancouver were so multicultural that I did not really experience a lot of culture shock and becoming friends with lots of other exchange students meant that if I got a little homesick there was always people around who understood. I made friends for life who I cannot wait to visit in the future.

I found studying in Canada slightly different to York – there was much more continuous assessment, you could even get a percentage of your grade for class participation. I also had the opportunity to study a really wide range of courses that I could not have taken in York from Forensic Anthropology to Wine Science 101. The chance to learn in a new university setting with a different style of teaching and examinations has taught me many skills such as flexibility, resilience and gave me, most importantly, new experiences.

Sarah, Environmental Studies, Year Abroad 2018/19

'My experience in Canada has been absolutely fantastic. I really been able to develop my interests and my confidence has grown significantly. I have certainly gained more independence which was not possible to such an extent at York. I also took part in volunteering opportunities which are not offered at York, such as foot patrol. One major difficulty that I overcame was the weather. It was a particularly harsh winter; on my birthday in January the wind chill brought the temperatures to as low as -35. Some achievements that I am especially proud of are; completing the leadership education programme, receiving a certificate of academic engagement, and continuing foot patrol even in the depths of winter. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to take a range of courses including astronomy and indigenous studies. Learning about Canadian history in the indigenous environments class was completely new to me and really eye-opening. The same class also taught me a few life lessons which I will remember forever. To be honest spending the year Canada taught me a bunch of life lessons.'

Top Tips for Studying in Canada

Please note: these tips have been provided by students who have studied abroad in Canada - Global Opportunities recommends that you use these as a guide only and do your own research on what is best for you.

Money and Banking:

Canadian Bank account and also an International travel card
It is absolutely a good idea to open a bank account in your host country to prevent losing money through fees for spending money abroad. For Canada specifically, Scotiabank is perhaps the best option due to the unique advantages they give to international students such as no monthly charges (which is a standard for most banks)
I got a Monzo account before I left for Canada, which doesn't charge any fees for international transactions, so I could basically just use it as a normal bank account. It also registered on most Canadian tills as a credit card which was useful as some places in Canada don't take debit. Overall I found this worked really well and I didn't regret not setting up a Canadian bank account.

Staying Connected:

EE let contract users pay extra to use their minutes and data while abroad
I didn't buy a new phone or SIM card because my current SIM allowed me to use data roaming in Canada without extra charges. It is definitely a good idea to either get a new SIM in the UK that provides this (O2 is a good option), or to get a new SIM in your host country because otherwise you would either be unable to use mobile data, or the charges will mount up quickly. Getting a Canadian SIM may actually be the better option because it was often inconvenient or impossible to input a British phone number whenever needed to.
I got a new SIM card once I arrived in Canada from the phone shop on campus in the Student Nest, which I mostly used for data. It was easy to set up and cancel.

Food:

I'm not sure if I have a favourite place because I made a conscious effort to mix up where I would order food from. Vancouver is a very diverse city so a wide variety of food options are available with Japanese and Chinese food especially good, but other food like Indian or South-East Asian cuisine are also widely available. That's not to mention Canadian food like poutine which is also widely available (and very tasty). In terms of standards like pizza, Uncle Fatih's is perhaps the best option on campus, while A&W is a good standard fast food chain which also offer their own root beer, which led to me developing a taste for it and missing it since returning. (UBC)
For food shopping, No Frills is the cheapest option but might not have everything in stock, and Safeway is a little more expensive but has a selection more like your average Tesco. Both are reachable by bus. There's also a save on foods on campus, which you can walk or get the bus to, which again has a wide selection but is very expensive. (UBCV)

Paperwork and bureaucracy:

This is something which is best to deal with as soon as possible to keep it off your mind and allow you to fully enjoy your time. Keeping a list of what you need to do and when. is of course a great idea. I found a good thing to do was to do and prepare as much paperwork as possible before leaving. It is also a good idea to set a day where you will deal with as much as possible during the summer. A lot of paperwork is needed for your Study Permit application for example and it can be quite time consuming, so setting aside a day to just sort it out is not a bad idea.
UBC was pretty helpful in giving us checklists of everything that we needed to do. I applied for my student permit and went to give my bio-metrics before leaving for Canada and made sure to have all the possible documents that I might need for immigration. The process was pretty easy once I arrived to get my student permit, it just involved a long queue at the airport! Once arriving, the most important thing is to register for the healthcare system to ensure you'll be covered appropriately. We were given talks about this on imagine day, which gave exchange students an introduction to life at UBC, so it was clear what we needed to do.

What I wished I'd known...:

It will not always be loads of fun and not every day will be like a coming of age movie. I had some of the best days of my life in Canada and I met wonderful people but I also had some of the worst days. Without the mental health services offered at the university I might have come home early. I wish I had known that I would have such low points so I didn't feel so guilty about not enjoying every single minute.
The pandemic is obviously top of the list for this year, but I do think it links to other things in general that I wished I had known. That being, do not wait to try out new experiences or to visit certain places. While most years probably won't be interrupted early in such a way, it is nevertheless a good idea to seize the moment because this may be a once in a lifetime experience. I would tell my past self that if I'm ever on the fence if I want to go out and do something on one day to just do it and don't put things off until later.
For Vancouver specifically, it is amazing city that I would recommend to anyone but I do wish I had realised just how much it rained there. I had been told it rained a lot, but that doesn't prepare you for a solid month of almost none-stop heavy rain as was seen this winter. Linked to my previous point, it is a good idea to seize the opportunity to do weather dependent activities during the first few months before the rainy season begins in late October.
I would probably say not to put too many expectations on the first few weeks; it might take a little while to find your closest friends and feel like you've really settled in but it will happen! Personally I'm so glad I went on the exchange club trip organised early in the term as it really helped me to get to know the people that would become my best friends from exchange.

Useful links

Contact Global Opportunities

Global Opportunities - Drop in and see us at Derwent College D/A/023, Tuesdays-Thursdays 11-1pm

Book a virtual appointment with one of our advisors: Emily or Stephanie, or email global-opportunities@york.ac.uk for further support.

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