Exchange and study abroad


Students pursuing an exchange or study abroad program through the Interntional Centre, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Computer Science or Marine Biology program should submit a Learning Agreement. Please read below for more information.

Students pursuing any other departmental exchange or study abroad program should submit a Letter of Permission and indicate "exchange" or "study abroad" as their reason for pursuing courses at another institution.

There are 3 types of Learning Agreements, please choose the form that is applicable to you. If you are unsure of which form is applicable to you study abroad program please consult your Study Abroad and Exchange Advisor. For Commerce, Computer Science and UPMC departmental exchanges, please contact your department exchange advisor.

Learning Agreement for Exchange Programs

Learning Agreement for Bader International Study Centre Program

Learning Agreement for Oxford Study Abroad Programme

Deadlines for Submission of Learning Agreements to the Registrar's Office are as follows:

  • Fall term exchanges: June 15   
    • May 15 for Australia and New Zealand exchanges, to accommodate different academic term dates            
  • Winter term exchanges: November 1
  • Summer term exchanges: April 1

Grades: For courses taken at institutions outside of Canada, grades of P (pass) and F (fail), as appropriate, will be recorded on your Dalhousie record

Instructions on Completing the Learning Agreement

Step 1     Save the form to your desktop, then open in Adobe (to allow signature capability). Fill in the personal information section including the Student Signature portion on the reverse side of the form.

Step 2     Complete the proposed study plan. You are encouraged to complete this section with an academic advisor. To expedite the process, we would encourage you to bring your course descriptions with your proposed study plan to the applicable department to assign course equivalencies.

Helpful resources for completing your proposed study plan:

  • Transfer Credit Equivalencies Table for courses that have been previously assessed. If a course, you are looking to take is not on the equivalency table you will need to bring a course description and/or course outline to the applicable department for assessment.
  • Credit Conversion Table: This table converts Units used at other institutions into the equivalent credit hours at Dalhousie University.

Step 3     You will then bring the form to the International Centre to meet with the Outbound Exchange Co-ordinator who will complete the Advisor’s Note Section and sign the Exchange Office Approval. For Commerce and UPMC exchange students you will have your departmental exchange co-ordinator complete this section. They will forward the form to the Registrar’s Office to complete the processing.

Step 4      When the Registrar’s Office receives the form, they are checking to ensure you meet the conditions for Taking Courses at Another University. They will record the classes to your academic record and email you a completed copy of your form.

Step 5      You will bring the learning agreement to your Host Institution. They will need to complete the Host Institution section. If you have a change in registration from your proposed study plan, please be aware that this could impact the credit hours you will receive and any courses not previously assessed will need to be sent to the applicable department for assessment. You can attach course information when returning the Learning Agreement to the Registrar’s Office.

Step 6      Once the Host Institution completes and signs their section of the Learning Agreement it can be e-mailed to LOP@dal.ca or faxed to 902 494-1630. It is important to have this completed and returned to the Registrar's Office as soon as possible. If you have a government student loans, we will be unable to sign your loan until your learning agreement is returned to the Regsitrar's Office.  

For additional information and a list of the current exciting exchange and study abroad opportunities please visit Exchange and Study Abroad Program page.