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Academic Matters
Which courses are required for my program? How do I substitute a course? How many years do I have to finish my degree?
The Undergraduate Calendar is your definitive source for academic policies and procedures, programs and course descriptions.

The Undergraduate Calendar is your definitive source for academic policies and procedures, programs and course descriptions.
Admitted to first year in | 1st & 2nd Semester | 3rd & 4th Semester | 5th & 6th Semester | 7th & 8th Semester |
Fall 2020 | 2020-2021, opens in new window | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 |
Fall 2019 | 2019-2020, opens in new window | 2020-2021, opens in new window | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
Fall 2018 | 2018-2019, opens in new window | 2019-2020, opens in new window | 2020-2021, opens in new window | 2021-2022 |
Fall 2017 | 2017-2018, opens in new window | 2018-2019, opens in new window | 2019-2020, opens in new window | 2020-2021, opens in new window |
Your Academic Advisement Report will summarize your completed and unresolved graduation requirements (see below).
Course Exceptions: Substitutions and Directives
You are expected to follow the curriculum as published in the Undergraduate Calendar for the year level you are enrolled in. Sometimes, students ask for a curriculum exception. There are two kinds of exceptions: Substitutions and Directives.
Course Substitution
A Course Substitution is when a Toronto Met course that is not part of your normal curriculum is used as a substitution for a specific required course. In other words, you are replacing required Course A with Course B. You should seek approval for a Course Substitution before enrolling in the course. Course Substitutions do not automatically affect your GPA, replace any future prerequisite requirements, nor are they a formal statement about course equivalence. Course Substitutions requests must be reviewed and approved by the Teaching Department, your Program Department and Curriculum Advising.
Course Directive
A Course Directive is when a Toronto Met course that is not part of your normal curriculum is used for credit for one of your program’s elective groups (Professional, Professionally-Related, Liberal Studies, Core, Open). For example, you wish to use Course B, not normally taken by students in your program, as one of your Professional electives. You should seek approval for a Course Directive before enrolling in the course. Course Directives requests must be reviewed and approved by both your Program Department and Curriculum Advising. Liberal Studies Course Directive requests are reviewed and approved by both the Faculty of Arts and Curriculum Advising.
For instructions, definitions and regulations download the Course Substitution/ Directive Request form.
Timespan
In order to graduate, you must complete your program’s curriculum and graduation requirements within a specified number of years. This is known as your timespan and the clock starts “ticking” in your first term of eligibility for enrolment. Even though you may not be attending Toronto Met for one or more terms (for example, you have decided to request a temporary Short-Term Withdrawal from your program for either the current academic term or for future academic terms due to financial, health, personal, academic or other reasons, you still continue to use up your timespan.
Completion of the program's curriculum within a timespan from admission to the program to graduation must not exceed the number of years as follows:
- Full-time degree programs: the maximum timespan is normally 8 (eight) years, calculated as the number of years of curriculum outlined in the undergraduate calendar multiplied by 2 (two). In the case of co-op programs requiring an additional year of program registration, 1 (one) additional year is added to the normal timespan.
- Part-time degree programs: the maximum timespan is normally 14 (fourteen) years, calculated as the number of required single-term courses (or equivalent) divided by 3 (three).
- Chang School Certificate Programs: the number of required single-term courses (or equivalent) divided by 2 (two), plus 1 (one) year. The maximum timespan is measured from the original registration in the certificate program.
Timespan Extensions
Under extenuating circumstances, you may petition from the Dean or Designate of your Faculty or Program Director for the Chang School for an extension. You will be required to meet the academic requirements in effect when/if the extension is granted. If you would like to petition for a Timespan Extension, please complete the PDF fileUndergraduate Timespan Extension Form and follow the submission instructions on the form.
If your timespan extension is denied, or if you need an additional timespan after the approved timespan extension is completed, you can appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee for a final consideration of your request. Senate Appeal Committee decisions are final and not appealable.
If you would like to submit an appeal to the Senate Appeal Committee, please complete the Senate Appeal of Timespan and follow the submission instructions on the form.
PDF fileRead Senate Policy 46: Policy on Undergraduate Course Grading, Academic Program Standing, and Eligibility to Graduate see also Essential Policy Highlights