Welcome to Northeastern University!

Next Steps

The following next steps are all MANDATORY for all NU - Toronto/Vancouver new international students who are actively registered and engaged in classes.

Purchase Health Insurance

Deadline:

You should have purchased your health insurance before arriving in Canada. The final deadlines to purchase: 

  • COS/COE/CAMD/Khoury Students: September 15th, 2025
  • CPS Students: September 25th, 2025

Toronto Campus Students:

  • All students must purchase the MANDATORY New Students GuardMe insurance to cover you from September 1st, 2025 – August 31st, 2026.
    • The fixed dates for your health insurance will be September 1st, 2025 to August 31st, 2026. There are no changes allowed, this is the requirement.
  • If you are arriving in Canada prior to September 1st, 2025 – you must purchase an ADDITIONAL health insurance policy for Early Arrival. You can review the information and make you purchase on this page.

Remember that you must show a GuardMe health insurance policy that begins the same date of your study permit issuance, or September 1st.

A hold will be placed on your account if you do not provide valid proof of the required health insurance. 

Vancouver Campus Students:

  • You are REQUIRED to purchase GuardMe insurance for the first 90 days that you are in Canada. Once you arrive in Canada, you can apply for the British Columbia provincial health plan, MSP. All international students are eligible for MSP when they arrive in BC.
  • For your first 90 days in Canada, you need to enrol for GuardMe. You can purchase the insurance here. The health insurance start date should be the day you arrive in Canada.
  • You can find more detailed information about MSP here.

A hold will be placed on your account if you do not provide valid proof of the required health insurance. 

Sample of GuardMe Health Card – you are required to submit this document:

Where can you download this document?

  • Login to your GuardMe account.
  • On your Dashboard scroll down to “My Active Policy”
  • You’ll see “Download Healthcare Access Card”, click the icon with an arrow to download the PDF. 
    • Please note that it can take a few minutes after you purchase your health insurance to see the download for the health card. You must wait until you can download the PDF of the health card. We cannot accept any other document as your proof of health insurance.

Complete the Canadian Arrival Questionnaire

Deadlines:

The Arrival Questionnaire should be submitted 1 business day before you arrive on campus for the first time.

If documents are not submitted and approved by the FINAL deadlines below, a hold will be placed on your account or you may be dropped from your classes.

  • COS/COE/CAMD/Khoury Students: September 15th, 2025
  • CPS Students: September 25th, 2025

PLEASE ONLY COMPLETE THE ARRIVAL QUESTIONNAIRE AFTER YOU HAVE ARRIVED IN CANADA

To ensure compliance with mandatory university and governmental requirements, we have to collect and have on file copies of the Study Permits and proof of Health Insurances of all our international students.

All International Students in Canada must have valid Study Permits and health insurances throughout their studies. Your Health Insurance policy should be continuous and there should be no gaps. 

Please submit the following documents to OGS Canada via the myOGS Portal by completing the Canadian Arrival Questionnaire. You will be asked to upload your:

  • Study Permit – you would have received your study permit document at the port of entry from the CBSA officers upon your arrival into Canada.
  • Co-Op Work Permit (if applicable)
  • GuardMe, OHIP, or MSP Health Card/PDF. 

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARRIVAL QUESTIONNAIRE

If you have questions related to your study permit validity, please email [email protected] – Email us using your Northeastern student email address, include a copy of your study permit, your NUID, and your program of study in your inquiry.

Failure to submit your Study Permit and Health Insurance by your deadline will result in account holds and you will not be allowed to register for your next semester/quarter until the documents are submitted and approved. 

Vancouver Students:

Once you receive your MSP Card, please upload it for approval here.

 

Complete the OGS Canada Canvas Course

Deadline: TBD

In September, you will get access to the OGS Canada non-credit Canvas Orientation Course. Look out for an invite to the course soon!

This course is MANDATORY and you must complete all the quizzes and the acknowledgement by the deadline. Failure to complete the course by the deadline will result in your student account being placed on hold, and you will be restricted from registering for your upcoming courses.

 

Register for the OGS Canada Virtual Meet and Greet

Our Virtual Meet and Greet session will provide you an overview of Office of Global Services/ OGS Canada scope of services and introduce our team to international students who just about to start with NU Canadian campuses.

During the session we will talk about:

  • OGS Canada team’s scope of work
  • What services our team provides to the students
  • How to get in touch us
  • What resources are available for students
  • QA session

September 11th, 2025 | 3PM EST (Toronto) | 12PM PST (Vancouver) | REGISTER HERE

Questions or Clarifications?

Email OGS Canada at: [email protected] 

  • Use your Northeastern Student Email to contact us
  • Include your Full Name, NUID, Program of Study, and attach a copy of your study permit if your questions are related to study permit validity or compliance.