Such a leave must be requested on a term-by-term basis and may be granted for a period of up to 52 weeks. A leave of absence request should be submitted to your faculty Advising or Student Affairs Office along with appropriate documentation. Refer to specific instructions on your faculty website.
Students who are granted such a leave will have "leave of absence" recorded on their transcript.
No tuition fees will be charged for the duration of the authorized leave. During a leave of absence, you maintain an active student ID card and have access to McGill mail and use of the libraries. You are not permitted to register for courses or to participate in student internships or undergraduate research. You may not normally attend another academic institution; exceptions may be requested for professional development. Faculties may request documentation of a student's readiness to resume studies; they will apply "withdrawn" status after one year of approved leave of absence if the student has not returned to the University.
When on a leave of absence, if you wish to be covered by the undergraduate supplemental health insurance and/or international health insurance, you must contact your respective campus-wide student association (e.g., Students’ Society of McGill University, Macdonald Campus Students' Society) and International Student Services to make arrangements. Note that there will be additional student society fees to be paid in order to be considered a member eligible for the insurance plans. For information about the student societies' supplemental health and dental coverage, click
here. For information about international health insurance, click
here.
Once a leave of absence is granted, you must consult the Student Aid Office in order to assess the impact of the leave on student aid (e.g., government loans and bursaries, etc.).
