Early or Late Arrival

Early Arrivals

It’s important that you know where you are going once you arrive in Vancouver. Plan ahead for the trip to the SFU campus, and make sure you have everything you’ll need for your first few nights in Canada. If you have a confirmed place in residence but are arriving in Vancouver before the move-in dates, or if you will be looking for off-campus housing upon arrival, you may need to stay in temporary short-term housing for a few days.

More information can be found on our Arriving in Vancouver webpage.

Take advantage of your early arrival to explore the campus and city. You may wish to visit the City of Vancouver website to find information about what you can do in Vancouver.

If you are planning on arriving early, please note the following:

Housing:

If you are living in on-campus housing, your move-in date/time is noted on your license agreement. If you are registered for Residence Orientation (August, January, May) you may have an alternate date. You will receive an email from SFU Residence and Housing to confirm your date.

Medical Insurance:

The guard.me@SFU Plan is valid for four months and you are automatically enrolled in this plan for your first term of study only. 

• If Spring (January - April) is your first term at SFU the plan begins on January 1 
• If Summer (May - August) is your first term at SFU the plan begins on May 1
• If Fall (September - December) is your first term at SFU the plan begins on September 1 

If you will arrive in Canada before your guard.me@SFU coverage begins, and wish to purchase medical insurance for that period of time, please visit the guard.me@SFU website for information about how to purchase additional coverage from guard.me, or ensure you have adequate primary insurance coverage from another medical insurance provider.
 

Late Arrivals

Please contact the International Services for Students office at <exchange@sfu.ca> if you plan to arrive after classes begin. 

If you have confirmed on-campus housing, please also contact the SFU Residence and Housing office to inform them of your late arrival.

We recommend that you arrive no later than the first week of classes. If you arrive later than this you will have missed lectures for your classes and it will be difficult to catch up. If you still plan to arrive late please contact your instructors directly to determine any missed readings, assignments, and lecture notes.