Study Abroad - Fact Sheet

The following documents will be required to ensure your placement as a study abroad student at Trent. You will be asked to upload them to an additional form after you have access to our myTrent portal. 

• Scan of your Passport
• Most recent academic transcript - All transcripts need to be translated in English
• Appropriate picture of yourself - This photo will be used internally for our Study Abroad Wall of Fame

All students must be nominated by their university to study at Trent University. 

1. The Study Abroad team will contact nominated students directly with the application link and instructions on how to apply.
2. After you have completed the application form, we will send you a confirmation email.
3. After the application deadline has passed we will begin registering students at our institution. Once you are registered you will be sent instructions on how to activate your myTrent portal and access your student email.
4. At this time you will also receive your Letter of Acceptance (LOA) via an email from the Registrar (registrar@trentu.ca). The email is the LOA, you will not be provided an additional document or pdf. Please print this email and use it for immigration purposes.
5. After you have access to the myTrent portal you will be required to complete an additional Application form. This form will ask you to upload your passport, most recent academic transcript and profile photo.

If you have any problems using the online application form please contact studyabroad@trentu.ca.

Our English Language Proficiency for our Inbound Exchange students is the same for our degree seeking undergraduates.

Trent is an English language university and it is important to your success at Trent that you are proficient in both spoken and written English. All students must demonstrate a command of English sufficient to meet the demands of classroom instruction, written assignments, and participation in tutorials and discussions. 

Please use the criteria linked below for selecting students to be nominated at Trent:

• English Language Proficiency Tests

If the student's first language is not English, but they study predominantly in English at their home institution than proof of English Language Proficiency is not required.

The online module catalogue is available here: https://calendar.trentu.ca/

NOTE - all modules are subject to change

• Courses/classes (modules):
  • Individual classes at Trent are referred to as courses
  • Credit Equivalence: 2.5 credits Trent University Credits = 60 UK credits / 30 ECTS
• Credit load:
  • Full year students must select 5.0 credits (unless they have permission from their home university)
  • Semester students must select 2.5 credits (unless they have permission from their home university)
• Semesters:
  • Courses at Trent University are offered during the Fall Semester, from September to December and during the Winter Semester, from January to April. Courses can also be taught throughout the whole academic year.
  • Students spending the Fall Semester at Trent can only select courses offered during that semester.
  • Students spending the Winter Semester at Trent can only select courses offered during that semester.
  • Only students spending the full year can select full-year courses.
• Course selection:
  • Trent Bachelor degrees take 4 years to complete, therefore we offer courses at the 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 level.
  • Students are advised to select 1000 (Year 1), 2000 (Year 2) and 3000 (Year 3) level courses. With the discretion of the academic department, it may be possible to select 4000 (Year 4) if students have the prerequisite knowledge in that subject area.
  • Students cannot pursue postgraduate or master level courses.
  • Some courses are NOT available to exchange students. They are Nursing (NURS), Social Work (SWR), Biomedical Sciences (BIOM) and Education (EDUC).
  • Trent has two campuses, one in Peterborough and another in Oshawa. Exchange students can only take courses offered at the Peterborough campus.
  • Students should check with their home university Study Abroad Office for full details of how Trent credits will be transferred.
• Upon your arrival:
  • Students will have the opportunity to be registered in a their courses before they arrive at Trent. Our registration period begins mid-June.
  • There is a two-week “Add/Drop” period at the beginning of each semester to change course selections. No changes can be made after this two-week period.
  • Students will be instructed how to draft their courses in Trent's self-service system, however they will not be able to register themselves. Once they have drafted their schedules they will send an email to us at studyabroad@trentu.ca which includes a screenshot of their drafted courses, and we will help get them registered with the assistance of our Registrar (RO) team.

When selecting courses students should pay attention to the method of assessment. Most of the courses at Trent are assessed by several smaller assignments followed by a midterm halfway through the semester and an exam at the end. Sometimes the exams are replaced by term projects or essays. Attendance of in-person midterms and exams is mandatory. 

• Fall Semester (FA) Fall semester exams are held in December for all students.
• The exam schedule for the FA term is released mid-October. The last day of the exam period for FA semester is December 22, 2026 at 10pm.
• Winter Semester (WI) Winter semester exams are held in April for all students.
• The exam schedule for the WI term is released mid-February. The last day of the exam period for WI semester is April 23, 2027 at 10pm.
• Trent University does not offer resits if a students fails a course.

Students are required to be present at all examinations and should NOT arrange return flights home until their final examination schedule is confirmed. 

Please note that Trent University will not:

• proctor examinations for students.
• allow students to sit Trent examinations at their home universities.

Trent University issues academic transcripts twice a year, within two months after the examination period ends. 

Students will get an email from MyCreds (the platform we use to issue official transcripts) which will allow them to send their transcript to ONE person via email. The first copy is free. If you need another copy in the future, it can be purchased by you through MyCreds.

Transcripts will only be issued to exchange students whose account balance is zero. If a student has a unpaid fee/charge on their student account the transcript will not be released.

It is the students responsibility to understand how your home institution would like to receive this document. For some, you might send it to your own email address and forward to your coordinator, while other universities require the copy sent directly to them from MyCreds.  If you are unsure, please contact your home institution directly.

Students can only apply for accommodation when they have been formally accepted to study at Trent University. 

After they have been accepted Trent hosts a number of webinars to help students with next steps, including Housing. Here is the link to the housing webinar from 2026/27: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxujtHhJQyE

Starting Fall 2026, all students will be placed in the same accommodation, Lady Eaton Annex. To learn more about the accommodations please review the housing website.

Housing is guaranteed for Fall and Full-Year students only, if they apply by the housing deadline: June 3, 2026. For Winter semester students, housing is based on availability.

If students want to explore off-campus housing they can review addition resources here.

Every year our International Student Advisors host immigration sessions for exchange students to attend via Zoom. In these sessions our advisors go over all the necessary immigrations steps and requirements. For students that are unable to attend, the sessions are recorded and the video is sent via email.

It is very important that you find accurate information on your immigrations requirements. Please read the designated Canadian Government website to see if you need to apply for a study permit. 

As an exchange student, you are EXEMPT from needing a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL). 

If you have any Immigration related questions, please review all of the provided resources. If you cannot find an answer contact internationaladvising@trentu.ca.

UHIP Health Insurance:

• $264 CAD for 4 months, $528 CAD for 8 months (Charged each semester.)
• Prices updated annually (priced June 2026). The University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) is a mandatory health insurance to cover your medical needs while you are studying in Ontario. Visit UHIP website to learn more about the coverage.

TCSA Health Benefit 

• $346.04, flat fee for both full-year and term exchange students (Charged once in the semester of arrival)
• All incoming students will be charged the TCSA Health Benefit upon enrolment at Trent.  Inbound students will have to opportunity to Opt-out through the Student VIP portal.
• Fall and full-year inbounds will have the opportunity to opt-out in September.
• Winter only inbounds will have the opportunity to opt-out in January.
• Upon successful Opt-out, Inbound Study Abroad students will be issued a paper cheque by Student VIP, in order to avoid the necessity to open a Canadian bank account.  

At Trent Academic Accommodation is called "Student Accessibility Services" - also known as "SAS."

To get registered with SAS please follow the instructions provided in this link: https://www.trentu.ca/wellness/accessibility/how-register-sas

We recommend that students get this process started as they receive their LOA, as it can be long and requires lots of documentation. Please direct any questions regarding SAS to sas@trentu.ca.