Withdrawing from a course

We understand that circumstances may arise in a student's life that make it difficult or even impossible to withdraw from a course prior to the official deadlines. We will consider your request under these conditions.

Exceptional life circumstances

Under exceptional life circumstances, you may withdraw from one or more courses after the official deadline with no financial credit as long as it is approved by your faculty. Exceptional life circumstances are serious problems that prevent you from functioning normally and meeting course deadlines, such as a physical or mental illness or the death of a family member.

There are other situations that may affect your presence in a course that you may bring to the attention of your faculty or school, such as harassment, concerns over language of instruction or concerns over quality of teaching.

We will refuse your request if you have already written your final exam. We will also refuse any request submitted for the following reasons:

• misunderstanding of the important academic dates and deadlines
• probable failing grade in a course
• unsuccessful attempt to withdraw under the Enrol application in uoZone
• financial difficulties
• travel
• course not meeting your needs or expectations
• a job
• extracurricular activities
• any other reason deemed unacceptable by the faculty or school

Supporting documentation

You must include supporting documents with your request. Requests not accompanied by documentation are considered incomplete and are automatically refused. Below are examples of exceptional life circumstances and the supporting documents that go with them.

Physical or mental illness

We require a medical certificate from your health care professional (or a letter of support from uOttawa's Counselling Services). This document must include your name, period of absence and return date, the medical appointment date and the health care professional's signature. If there are doubts about the authenticity of your medical document, the University can require that it be validated by University of Ottawa Health Services. If you attend classes during the absence period indicated on your medical document, you can no longer submit a request based on a physical or mental illness.

Death of a family member

We require a death certificate. 

We reserve the right to request a written confirmation from your professor that you didn't write the final exam or attend courses during the period you were supposed to be absent. Please note that at all times your personal information is protected and remains confidential. For more information, please read our Privacy Policy.

When to make your request

You must make your request for course withdrawal as soon as possible once you're aware of the circumstances causing you to make the request.

How to make your request

Please complete and submit the request form. It will be sent to your faculty or school.

Decision and wait times

The decision to accept your request for withdrawal is up to the faculty or school. Normally, the faculty or school has 15 business days to examine your request and send you its decision, which is emailed to your @uOttawa.ca address. If the process is expected to take longer than 15 days, the faculty or school will notify you.

Refunds (financial credit)

If you would like to be considered for a reimbursement after the deadline to withdraw with financial credit has passed, you must mention this in the request you make to your faculty (see How to make your request section above).

You must request the reimbursement after the withdrawal deadline no more than three terms after the term that you took your course. For example, if you withdraw from your courses during the Fall 2024 term, you have until the end of the Fall 2025 term to request a reimbursement.

In addition, if you used any student services (attending courses, going to the gym, participating in campus activities, etc.) after the deadline to withdraw with financial credit, you will not be eligible for a reimbursement.

Appealing a decision

If you aren't satisfied with a decision, you can appeal it.

• If your faculty or school has refused the course withdrawal request, you can file an appeal with the Senate Appeals Committee. This needs to be done within 10 working days of the date you receive the decision.
• If the faculty or school accepts the course withdrawal request but refuses the reimbursement, you can file an appeal with the Student Account Reimbursement Committee. You must do this within 10 working days of the date you receive the decision.

The Student Account Reimbursement Committee has one month to review your appeal and email you its decision. If the process is expected to take longer, we will also inform you by email.