International Risk Management
For Faculty and Staff
All staff members travelling for a university-sanctioned activity, or leading student group activities, are required to register with International SOS. All Faculty members and contract lecturers are strongly encouraged to register with International SOS.
For information on the International Risk Management Requirements for students, see our Safety Abroad section on our Global Learning site.
ISOS is your first point of contact for support.
(PDF file) 24/7 via phone or the ISOS Assistance App (external link) .
You will have access to a worldwide network of assistance centers staffed by doctors, nurses, coordinators, and security professionals providing local expertise and emergency assistance.
Emergency Incident Check-ins: If a significant travel security incident, health threat, or natural disaster has affected your region, TMU Global will reach out via International SOS to check on your safety status. Check your email regularly while traveling abroad to keep up-to-date on all communications.
All Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) community members have access to International SOS, the university’s partner in international risk management abroad.
TMU has joined forces with International SOS to provide the community access to a worldwide network of real-time health and logistics professionals, with local expertise, preventative advice, and emergency assistance while traveling abroad. International SOS is available 24/7 for any critical or routine travel, medical, or security questions. No issue is too small. As an International SOS member, you have access to the following services:
- Destination-specific information. Visit our Members’ Portal (external link) for access to travel, medical, and security information on 220 countries and more than 330 cities
- Regular email updates and ISOS Assistance App (external link) notifications on the latest travel security developments and advice in response to significant travel security incidents
- Advice before your trip from a regional expert or medical professional
- Referrals for a local doctor, dentist, or other care providers
- Routine or urgent medical care, including medical evacuation
- Counselling sessions while abroad, either via phone or in-person (where available).
- Assistance with a lost passport
- Translation services
- Urgent and non-urgent travel security assistance and advice
- For more information on services offered, see the Services provided by International SOS while abroad section below
When in doubt, call International SOS for compassionate, reassuring support.
How can International SOS help?
- International SOS (ISOS) provides you with assurance that you will be assisted in case of an emergency during travel abroad. One phone call connects you to the ISOS network of multilingual specialists for immediate help (24/7). ISOS services are designed to help you with medical, personal, travel, security, and legal problems abroad.
- For more information, see International SOS
- Register a New User/Login using your @torontomu.ca email address at International SOS MyTrips (external link)
Add a “New Trip”. Must include both:
- Accommodation Information (For the entire length of the activity abroad).
- Flights (Return & Departure): To add flight Information, you can enter it manually or forward your flight confirmation email (from your @torontomu.ca account) to: mytrips@travelsecurity.com
Read carefully through the “Pre-trip Advisory” email that is sent from ISOS within 24 hours of successfully adding a “New Trip”. This email contains important security and medical information relevant to your travel.
Download your International SOS Membership Card (external link) to keep with you at all times while traveling abroad.
We highly encourage you to download the International SOS Assistance App (external link) for access to one-click dialing to the closest International SOS Assistance Centre for immediate help while abroad. The app also provides travel alerts/notifications and country-specific medical and security information.
Login Information: When logging into the App for the first time, you will need to create a new account. You should use the same first name, last name, and your @torontomu.ca (external link) email address, as used to create your International SOS MyTrips account (See step 1 above). From there, you will be directed to your university’s sign-in page. Key in your credentials and submit. Once you’ve logged in, you should be redirected to the App Account Setup page to complete your profile details. This will enable the trip details you entered in your MyTrips account to sync with your International SOS Assistance App.
Faculty and staff can find information about their Travel Emergency Medical coverage in HR's employee resources (select your employee group and then the benefits section). The Sun Life plan for employees is still in effect, and it is important that you review your coverage in detail to understand any restrictions or exemptions that may apply to your situation. If you have any questions about Travel Emergency Medical coverage, contact Robert Bornstein, Director, Pensions & Benefits (rbornstein@torontomu.ca).
If you need to purchase travel emergency medical insurance, please review the policies carefully to ensure they meet all of your coverage needs. For more information, see the Government of Canada's site on travel insurance (external link) .
When travelling abroad, it can sometimes be difficult to access online resources such as G Suite, D2L Brightspace, and the my.torontomu portal. You must have access to these resources in order to facilitate contact and continued support for International Risk Management procedures. Computing and Communications Services (CCS) has created global.torontomu.ca, a proxy service to help in many of these situations. This proxy service, much like a virtual private network or VPN, enables you to access most applications on the torontomu.ca domain that may not otherwise be available in your location.
Where to use global.torontomu.ca
The service is available for use primarily in the Asia-Pacific region but can be accessed anywhere outside of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
How to access global.torontomu.ca
The service is available for use primarily in the Asia-Pacific region but can be accessed anywhere outside of Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
To access the proxy service during your travels, go to https://global.torontomu.ca from your web browser. As long as you’re outside of Canada, the United States, or Mexico, you will be connected to the global.torontomu.ca interface. You will need to provide your my.torontomu username, password, and two-factor credentials to authenticate to the proxy. Once authenticated, you should be able to access the university's online resources in the same way you do on campus. If you have any questions, please contact the Computing and Communications (CCS) Help Desk at help@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556806.
- Medical Care Support: ISOS provides instant access to medical experts via phone, emergency and routine medical advice, medical and dental referrals, assistance with scheduling medical appointments on the traveller’s behalf, medical monitoring and case management, translation services (90+ languages), dispatch of medication and medical supplies, logistical support and arrangement of medical evacuation or repatriation.
- Medical Expenses: If a traveller is unable to pay their medical expenses, the university has provided ISOS permission to automatically pay for medical care that is related to the potential loss of life, limb, or eye. For other expenses, ISOS will reach out to us for approval before paying for any care. We will then work with the faculty’s department, Travelers ’ Insurance, or the traveller directly for reimbursement.
- Emotional Support Services: Travellers have access to counseling services either via phone or on location (if available). ISOS will assist the traveller in scheduling appointments. Each traveller is entitled to up to five free sessions per incident per year for the same condition.
- Travel and Security Advice: Urgent and non-urgent travel security assistance and advice by telephone or chat via ISOS Assistance App (external link) , legal referrals, translations and interpreter (90+ languages), lost document advice, and ground transportation and accommodations referrals.
- Security emergency response and evacuation: In cases of natural disaster, civil unrest, or conflict, ISOS can coordinate emergency response on the ground. For example, this might be arranging for a security review of accommodation or a secure transfer to the airport, or providing an incident management team on the ground to assist with a full-scale country evacuation. Afterwards, ISOS will assist with the coordination of post-evacuation debriefs and counselling.
- ISOS 24-Hour Assistance Centers: A local assistance center will be identified via email or the ISOS Assistance App (external link) to all travelers after registering their trip with ISOS. For all 24-hour Assistance Centre phone numbers, please visit the ISOS Locations page (external link) .