McMaster Continuing Education reserves the right to cancel a course due to low enrolment or other factors. Affected students will be notified of any course cancellations and refunded appropriately. 

• Students are entitled to a 100% refund if McMaster Continuing Education cancels a course
• The $39 Academic Activation fee is refundable only when McMaster Continuing Education cancels a course. The $39 Academic Activation fee is non-refundable if the course date and time changed but the course did not get cancelled

Academic Courses

• You can withdraw from a McMaster Continuing Education academic course up to 7 days before the course end date or final examination date, whichever comes first
• Withdrawn courses remain on the student record as “withdrawn” (W) 
• You must remove your course(s) from Mosaic via your Student Centre 
• Failure to remove your course(s) by the deadline (up to 7 days before the course end date or final examination date, whichever comes first) will result in a final grade posted to your student record based on completed coursework 

For purposes of refunds or withdrawals, the day refers to the calendar day, beginning at 12 a.m., regardless of when the course starts. The course start date is “day 1”.“1 day before” ends at 11:59 p.m. on the previous calendar day. 

For more information about academic and non-academic courses, please visit our Certificate and Diploma Definitions page.

• The refund schedules apply to all learning formats (In-Person, Virtual Classroom, Online and Online Self-Study) 
• “Days” include weekends and holidays. The course start date is “day 1”. “1 day before” ends at 11:59 p.m. on the previous calendar day
• The $39 Academic Activation fee is refundable only when McMaster Continuing Education cancels a course. The $39 Academic Activation fee is non-refundable if the course date and time changed but the course did not get cancelled
• An academic course has an assigned unit value (i.e. 3 units). A non-academic course has no assigned units. For more information about academic and non-academic courses, please visit our Certificate and Diploma Definitions page
• The official course outline provides information for the number of weeks in your course and the assigned unit value. Please visit the Course Outlines page for more information

Example refund schedule for a program 11 weeks or more: 

• Course Start Date: September 15 
• Drop Date: prior to September 15 = 100% course fee/100% MAPS* 
• September 15 – September 28 = 70% course fee/0% MAPS* 
• September 29 – course end date = 0% course fee/0% MAPS* 

FULL REFUND SCHEDULE

PARTIAL REFUND SCHEDULE 

NO REFUND SCHEDULE

MAPS REFUND SCHEDULE

Part-time Student Fees

* McMaster Association of Part-time Students (MAPS) charges a fee of $7.36 per unit of academic study. This fee is included in the listed tuition fee. The MAPS fee is charged to all continuing education students enrolled in academic (for credit) courses for services provided by the McMaster Association for Part-time Students. Further information can be found on their website.

Students are required to log into the Mosaic Student Centre to drop a course.

First, please review the drop/refund policy in the “refund schedules” above.

If you still wish to drop your course, follow the steps below:

1. Log into Mosaic, select the Student Centre tile and go to the Academics section
2. Select ‘Enrolment: Drop’ from the dropdown menu (defaulted to “other academic…”) and complete the steps

If you qualify for a refund, please review the “refund methods” below.

Please note that McMaster Continuing Education does not determine the policies for our partner programs. Please follow partner policies as outlined below and connect with the partner institution directly for further assistance regarding these policies and procedures.

Ed2Go 

• Courses – Ed2Go’s policy and procedures for course refunds and withdrawals are provided in your enrolment confirmation email
• Career Training Program – Ed2Go’s policy and procedures for course refunds and withdrawals are provided in your enrolment confirmation email. Ed2Go’s policy and procedures for refunds for Career Training programs commence upon your acknowledgement of the learner agreement and activation of your course(s)

YouGotClass

• Please visit the YouGotClass website for more information

OCAD U

• Please visit the OCAD University School of Continuing Studies website for more information

• Credit Card, Visa Debit, and Debit Mastercard payments – applicable refund will be processed back to the original credit card via the order number. Credit card refunds will be processed 1 – 3 weeks from the course drop date. Processing times may take longer during peak periods, such as Enrolment open dates (July and March) and the beginning of an academic term (January, May, September). Note: Refunds can only be processed to the credit card that was used to make the purchase.
• Online Banking payments (Students with a Canadian Bank Account) – refunds will be processed via Interac e-transfer to the student’s personal email address in Mosaic. Students will receive an email directing them to log into their online banking to make a deposit. The student’s email address does not need to be the same one associated with the student’s bank account in order to accept payment. Refunds through Interac e-transfer will be processed approximately 1 – 3 weeks from the course drop date. Processing times may take longer during peak periods. Students are advised to check their junk/spam folder.

Please note: All refunds will be issued in Canadian dollars. Refunds via e-transfers for Credit Card payments will only be processed in extenuating circumstances. Processing and delivery will take approximately 4-6 weeks.