Residence Options

Most of the incoming exchange students choose to live in the East Village Townhouses [1], East Residence [2] or West Residences [3] because these are the only residences where you are not required to purchase a meal plan - you can cook your own meals using the bigger kitchens, which is a much cheaper option.  The East Village Townhouses and West Residence apartments have 4 - 6 bedrooms, while the East Residence has 8-12 bedrooms per apartment.  All these residence apartments have a large shared kitchen and living room and have both exchange students and senior Canadian undergraduate students living in them. 

For more information about all the residences on campus:

Visit Student Housing Services  [4]
See the Residence Fees [5]
See the Housing Viewbook [6]
See the Virtual Residence Tours  [7]

Meal Plans

There are several different meal plans [8] that students can choose from.  With 16 dining facilities on campus that cater to students (including special diets such as vegetarian and vegan), you will be sure to find lots of food choices to satisfy even a picky eater.  When you purchase a Meal Plan, a food account will be added to your University Student Identification Card. When it's time to eat, all you need is your I.D. Card. At U of G, all food items are individually priced - just like a restaurant. You only pay for what you order. Every time you choose a food item, the cashier swipes your I.D. Card and the appropriate number of food dollars are deducted from your Meal Plan. Here you can view some videos about what the different dining halls on campus offer [9].

Please note: it is up to you to keep track of the amount of meal plan dollars you have used (you can check this by logging onto the Hospitality Services website).  It is possible to keep using your Student ID card to purchase meals even if you have already used up all of your food dollars.  In this case, the additional food purchases you have made will be billed to your student account and you will have to pay the remaining amount before the end of the semester.

Residences WITHOUT a Mandatory Meal Plan

If you are living in East Residence, the East Village Townhouses, the West Residences or off-campus, meal plans are not mandatory.  However, students living in these residences or off-campus sometimes like to purchase a small meal plan because it provides the flexibility of grabbing a quick meal at the various cafeterias (for example, when running between classes).  

The smallest meal plan is called the Ultra Plan [10] and is specifically designed for off-campus students and students living in the East & West Residences.  The minimum fee for the Ultra plan is $195 but you can pay any amount of money you want depending on how often you think you'll use the meal plan, and the money gets credited to your Student ID card.  Your food purchases are then paid for by swiping your student ID card at the cash register and the cost of the food is deducted from your meal plan.   You can also add more meal plan money to your ID card at any time.  If you have the Ultra Plan you get a 10% discount plus 8% discount on the sales tax on the price of the food.  You can purchase the Ultra Plan in advance by logging into your WebAdvisor account, or you can order it once you are here by visiting Hospitality Services and paying by cash or credit card.

Residences WITH a Mandatory Meal Plan

If you choose to live in the North or South Residences, on-campus meal plans are mandatory and you will be automatically billed for a ‘Minimum plan’.  If you are a big eater and would like a larger plan, you can upgrade your meal plan through WebAdvisor.  Hospitality Services offers several different sizes of residence meal plans. The amount of time you spend on campus and your personal eating habits are important criteria in choosing the right plan. Your meal plan fee will be automatically added to your total University of Guelph fees. 

Please be aware that any remaining “food dollars” you may have on your meal plan at the end of a semester are not refundable

Moving Out of Residence

Please note that students are expected to move out of their residence 24 hours after their final exam. If you have an exam on the final day of the exam period you have until noon the next day to vacate your residence. Find more information about residence for exchange students here [11].