Course Restrictions
Restrictions on Courses for Exchange Students
Exchange students fall under a special category at UCalgary. Although you have access to the majority of our faculties and departments when choosing your courses, there are specific restrictions which apply to some or all exchange students. Please review these restrictions carefully before attempting to register in courses!
Exchange students are not permitted to take any courses within the following areas.
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Closed Faculties
The Cumming School of Medicine
The Faculty of Nursing
The Werklund School of Education -
Closed Programs
The MBA Program in the Haskayne School of Business
Note: This restriction does not apply to exchange students at the Masters level who are participating in a Haskayne MBA targeted exchange.
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Closed Campuses
Downtown Calgary Campus
Spyhill Campus
Red Deer College (RDC)
Qatar Campus
Due to high demand for Business courses, exchange students must have high flexibility in their course selection.
Please note that all exchange students are not permitted to take MGST 217/301/501/503, SGMA 217/591, ENTI 317, and Block Week courses.
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Exchange students participating on a standard UCalgary Exchange
You may only access courses from this list:
- Accounting (ACCT) 301
- Business Technology Management (BTMA) 321
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ENTI) 201, 359, 381, 401, 403, 405, 407, 411, 413, 415, 529, 531, 559
- Finance (FNCE) 341, 343
- Organizational Behaviour & Human Resources (OBHR) 321, 517
- Operations Management (OPMA) 301
- Marketing (MKTG) 341
- Real State Studies (REAL) 359
- Strategy and Global Management (SGMA) 395, 401, 533
- Tourism (TOUR) 409
If you are a Business major at your home university and wish to take a course not listed, please contact the Haskayne advising team at undergrad.exchange@haskayne.ucalgary.ca.
Important: Courses not listed above and approved by the faculty, may only be registered by the first day of classes (pending available seats)
Due to high demand for Engineering courses, exchange students must have flexibility in their course selection. This is especially true for Mechanical Engineering, but students seeking courses in any department should prepare back-up options in other subject areas.
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Engineering courses closed to exchange students
ENGG 513
All full-year project courses (these are indicated by "A" and "B" codes) -
Tips for your course search
Past students have had some success with browsing courses offered in earlier semesters corresponding to their exchange semester (e.g. Fall 2017 students searched course lists for Fall 2016). If courses that did not reach maximum capacity in earlier semesters continue this trend, they may have a better chance for you to be able to register. This still cannot be guaranteed, however.
Due to high demand for Kinesiology courses, exchange students must have flexibility in their course selection. There are no guarantees for exchange student registration in any Kinesiology courses.
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Course Request Timeline
Kinesiology course requests are processed close to the start of each term. Exchange students should not expect to have their course registration finalized until the add/drop dates (about mid-September for the Fall semester and mid-January for the Winter semester). The Kinesiology advising team understands that it may be frustrating for you to wait during this time, however, their priority must first be to register their full-degree students. Your patience is appreciated!
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Music Courses
Many of the courses in Music, especially Music Performance, are difficult for exchange students to access. This is due to a variety of reasons such as limited space, mandatory auditions (taped and/or in-person), multi-semester classes, etc. Please keep this in mind and ensure that you have back-up course options available.
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Dance, Drama, and Art Courses
Many of the courses in Dance, Drama, and Fine Arts have strict registration requirements. They may also require an audition (especially for Dance/Drama) or submission of a personal portfolio (especially for Fine Arts). Students wishing to take these courses should contact the department well in advance of their arrival to Calgary to discuss these requirements and confirm that they will be able to enroll in the course.
Psychology courses are in high demand; most 300 and 400-level courses for both the Fall & Winter semesters reach maximum capacity in early summer. Exchange students are strongly encouraged to request and register in Psychology courses as soon as they receive their acceptance to UCalgary.
It is also encouraged to have back-up courses in other subject areas, just in case all Psychology courses are full by the time you begin registration.
Students who apply for their Fall, Winter or Full Year exchange by the March 15 Priority Deadline will have the best access to course registration although registration in specific courses cannot be guaranteed.
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If you are a Psychology Major at your home university:
You may request 200, 300, or 400-level Psychology courses.
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If you are not a Psychology Major:
You may only request 200 or 300-level Psychology courses. Please have descriptions/syllabi from any Psychology courses taken at your home university available, as the department may need to see them in order to approve your course request.
Note: Several Science courses have reserve caps for UCalgary students, not lifted until late June or late July.
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Environmental Science Courses
ENSC 201 is permitted for exchange students. All other courses in the Department of Environmental Science are not available to exchange students.
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Computer Science and Biological Sciences
Computer Science courses are in high demand and registration in those courses is not guaranteed. Special project course capacity is limited in Computer Science
300-level Biological Sciences courses are in high demand, students should carefully review pre-requisite requirements for any 400- and 500-levels.
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Neuroscience Courses and Data Science
Neuroscience courses are not open to exchange students.
Data Science courses open to students from data science programs only.
Exchange students who are currently enrolled in a Law program at their home university and are interested in taking Law courses at UCalgary must have conveyed this information prior to submitting their exchange application. Only exchange students whose applications have been approved by our Faculty of Law are allowed to take Law courses.
Law applications are reviewed collectively after the application deadline.
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Law Exchange Student Requirements
To be eligible for a UCalgary Law Exchange, you must:
- be enrolled in your home university's Law Faculty
- have completed minimum 3 semesters (15 Law courses) at your home university
- have high English proficiency (TOEFL ibT 100 with reading, listening & writing of 75, or IELTS 7.0 with reading & writing of 7.0)
- provide a written Statement of Interest and 2 academic references to support your exchange application (submit these by email to iexch@ucalgary.ca by the application deadline)
- take only Law courses during your exchange -
Law Exchange Student Courses
Courses not open to exchange students: LAW 503, 505, 507, 508, 509, 510, 602, and all 400-level LAW. Please note that in any given year additional course restrictions may apply.
For more details about Law courses, visit the Faculty of Law website. Go to the section titled "Registration & Course Selection" and click on "Instructor Course Descriptions". Please keep in mind that most exchange students attend 500-level courses. 600-level courses in Law are available to exchange students, but may be difficult to access due to stricter prerequisite requirements.
Social Work at UCalgary is a “third-year direct-entry” program. This means that exchange students wishing to take Social Work courses must have completed a minimum of two years of Social Work courses at their home university. There are three categories you may fall under and each will affect your access to Social Work courses.
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Exchange students enrolled in a Social Work program at their home university
You may request to take:
- SOWK electives at the 500-level
- SOWK cores and practicums (i.e. SOWK 410, 411, 412, 413) *special permission required from the Field Education Director and/or Undergraduate Programs DirectorYou must submit a written request to the faculty outlining the reasons why you wish to take these courses. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.
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Exchange students not enrolled in a Social Work program at their home university
You may request to take:
- SOWK 201
- SOWK electives at the 500-level *special permission required from the Undergraduate Programs DirectorYou must submit a written request to the faculty outlining the reasons why you wish to take these courses. Requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.
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Exchange students coming from Preferred Partners in Social Work
UCalgary’s Faculty of Social Work has a special exchange partnership agreement with the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, the University of South Australia, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. If you are from one of these institutions, you are permitted to take:
- SOWK electives at the 500-level
- SOWK cores and practicums (i.e. SOWK 410, 411, 412, 413)
If you wish to take any graduate (600-level) courses, this must be disclosed during your nomination. You must be nominated by your home university before the priority nomination deadline. You will follow a unique application process and must have your desired courses approved by our Faculty of Graduate Studies before you can be accepted for exchange. This is opposite to the application process for undergraduate exchange students, who are accepted for exchange before arranging course approvals.
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Graduate Exchange Student Eligibility
UCalgary's educational structure requires students to complete a four or five-year Bachelor's degree before they can attend a Master's program. Please keep this in mind and compare it to the structure at your home university. For example, many universities in Europe have a three-year Bachelor's program, so if you are an M1 student, you may find UCalgary's advanced undergraduate courses (400 or 500-levels) a better fit.
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Graduate Exchange Student Courses
You are expected to take most or all of your courses at the graduate level. Please note that UCalgary has a small graduate student population and does not offer as much variety of courses as at the undergraduate level. Many of our graduate programs also have stricter prerequisite requirements, and may also have stricter requirements for English proficiency. For these reasons, prospective graduate exchange students are required to have flexibility and back-up courses planned.
UCalgary Course Approvals
Much of the information above will have directed you to contact the various departments and faculties in order to get approval to take courses. Our office provides a Course Approval Form & Contact List, which are updated each semester and sent to exchange students. You will fill out the form with your desired courses, and then use the contact list to email your form to the department/faculty. Find full instructions on our Course Registration page!
Semester Dates
Aug. 29, 2022
Fall 2022 Semester Starts
Aug. 28, 2022
Fall Residence Move-in Day
This is when exchange students should arrive to campus!
Sept. 16, 2022
Deadline to Register (Enroll) in Courses
The deadline to remove (drop) courses is Sept. 15
Sept. 23, 2022
Deadline to Pay Fall Semester Fees
Nov. 6, 2022
Term Break Starts, continues until November 12
Dec. 10, 2022
Exam Break Starts, continues until December 21
Dec. 23, 2022
Fall 2022 Semester Ends
Jan. 1, 2023
Winter Residence Move-in Day
This is when exchange students should arrive to campus!
Jan. 3, 2023
Winter 2023 Semester Starts
Jan. 20, 2023
Deadline to Register (Enroll) in Courses
The deadline to remove (drop) courses is Jan. 19
Jan. 27, 2023
Deadline to Pay Winter Semester Fees
Jan. 19, 2023
Term Break Starts, continues until February 25
April 15, 2023
Exam Break Starts, continues until April 26
April 28, 2023
Winter 2023 Semester Ends