Student Travel and Pre-Departure Sessions

Welcome to Cape Breton University! We can’t wait to welcome you for the Winter 2024 semester. Below you will find helpful information that will help you prepare for your travels to Canada to begin your studies.

International Student Travel: Spring/Summer 2024

In preparation for your arrival in Canada, please carefully review the terms from the Government of Canada to make sure you meet the criteria for travel. Students who have not secured housing and accommodations should not travel to Canada and are encouraged to defer their studies to a future semester.

Refer to the Pre-arrival Checklist that will guide you to prepare yourself before you arrive in Canada.

Distance Learning and its Potential Impact on Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP)

Starting January 1, 2024, students must complete at least 50% of their program in-class inside Canada. The time spent studying outside of Canada will be deducted from the length of the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP). We recommend that students not take more than one course online per semester to give themselves the best chance to get a three-year PGWP.

Detailed information on PGWP can be found on the IRCC website.

WORK IN CANADA

Wondering if you can work while studying. Please click here for more information and remember that you can not work until your classes start on April 29, 2024.

Arriving at your port-of-entry into Canada:

When you arrive at a port-of-entry into Canada, you’ll meet a border services officer who will make sure you meet the basic requirements for arrival in Canada.

Travelling to Sydney, Nova Scotia

Airport pick-up in Sydney, Nova Scotia, will be available on the following dates:
  • Tuesday, April 2, 2024
  • Wednesday, April 3, 2024
  • Tuesday, April 9, 2024
  • Wednesday, April 10, 2024
  • Tuesday, April 16, 2024
  • Wednesday, April 17, 2024
  • Monday, April 22, 2024
  • Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Airport pick-up requests must be submitted 48 hours prior to your arrival time in Sydney, Nova Scotia. All students must have accommodations secured before booking. For more information about on- and off-campus housing, please visit CBU.ca/accommodations.

AIRPORT PICKUP REQUEST FORM

 

International Student Health Insurance

Arriving in Canada on January 1 or later? Your international student health insurance plan with Cape Breton University will begin on January 1, 2024, or on the date you arrive in Canada if you arrive after January 1, 2024. Arriving in Canada before January 1, 2024? We strongly encourage that you enroll for the emergency plan to cover you until December 31, 2023.

Please visit www.guard.me/cbu and click EARLY/LATE ARRIVALS. You can also learn more about international students health insurance at CBU. A list of international students health insurance FAQs is also available.

Pre-Departure Sessions

CBU’s pre-departure series is an opportunity for students to learn more about CBU and ask questions to our International Student and Study Abroad Centre team. Please see the full pre-departure schedule below with links on how to access each. Miss a session? Following each session, a full recording, including the top five key takeaways, will be posted below.

Pre-Departure Session Schedule

Information Session with CBU’s Advising Centre (International Student Advisors, Academic Advisors, Academic Success Coaching & Student Life)

Information Session with CBU’s Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre

Our Pre-Arrival Session with the Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre took place on Wednesday, March 6. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaways:

  • The Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre is a collaborative health care centre with nurses (including a mental health nurse), physicians and counsellors on site working together to meet the needs of our patients.
  • Located on campus and available to the CBU community.
  • Contact information:
  • Confidentiality: Any information students shared with the centre is kept private.
  • Learn more about the Nancy Dingwall Health and Counselling Centre.

Information Session with CBU Registrar’s Office and Student Accounts team

Our Information Session with CBU Registrar’s Office and Student Accounts team took place on Thursday, March 7. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaway:

Information Session with CBU’s Housing, Food and Ancillary Services

Our Information session with CBU’s Housing, Food and Ancillary Services took place on March 8. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaways:

  • Please defer if you:
    • have not received your visa by April 1, 2024
    • have not secured housing/accommodations by April 15, 2024
  • Student life is vibrant here on campus and students are recommended to attend the January Orientation and checkout the Events page for events happening throughout the semester.
  • Having a safe, secure and comfortable housing is very important to ensure that your experience here at CBU amazing.
  • Living on campus is a great option for students as they begin their journey at CBU and Canada.
    · We have multiple great options of on-campus residence.
    · Off-campus living is an option that is most popular with our students. We have our off-campus housing page which has listings that have been vetted by our off-campus housing coordinator.
  • Off campus living recommendations:
    • Please be aware of scams, we go by the saying “if it is too good to be true, it probably is”. In addition to this, we recommend that you use the internet to do more research.
    • Please sign a lease with your landlord and familiarise yourself with the rights you have as a tenant.
    • Please ensure that you have secured housing by April 15, and please do not travel without housing secured. Please join us for another date that is offered in your notice of acceptance. If no other date available please contact internationaladmissi@cbu.ca.

Information Session with CBU’s Academic Advising & Student Success Coaching

Our Information Session with CBU’s Academic Advising & Student Success Coaching took place on March 11. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaways:

  • New Students are required to have academic advising before being registered for courses. Information on advising.
  • All our students need to be academically advised before they can register for courses. Using your CBU email address, please contact the Advising Team via email:
    • Post-Baccalaureate Supply chain management, Post-Baccalaureate Healthcare management, Post-Baccalaureate Business Management and Post-Baccalaureate Business Analytics – pb@cbu.ca
    • All other students – advising@cbu.ca
  • Please follow the worksheet that is provided to you in your advising email.
  • Pre-requisite courses are courses that need to be completed before students can take certain courses. Please ensue that you are meeting these pre-requisites when you are required to according to your degree worksheets.
  • Please request for a co-op work permit at the time of entry into Canada. Co-op work permits allows students to partake in internship during a semester and our PB programs have a internship or capstone component to it.
  • The maximum number of courses Post-Baccalaureate students can register for is 4. Please ensure that you are registered for a minimum of 3 courses in Winter and Fall semesters to be considered full time and follow your study permit conditions.

Information session with Cape Breton – Victoria Regional Centre for Education.

Our Information Session with Cape Breton – Victoria Regional Centre for Education (CBVRCE) took place on March 13. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaways:

  • Register your child with the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education.
  • To enter school, children must be five years old on or before December 31st of the calendar year in which they are being enrolled. Parents of children turning five on or before December 31 are not obligated to enrol their son or daughter in Primary if they believe their child is not ready to begin formal education.
  • Todd McDougall is a parent navigator and can help you properly navigate any the challenges you or your child may face. He can be contacted via email at t-mcdougall@gnspes.ca or by phone at 902-217-5718.

Information session with Service Canada, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Career Services team at CBU.

Our Information session with Service Canada, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Career Services team at CBU took place on March 14. A recording of the session will be available soon.

Key takeaways: