Over the past several years, we’ve worked hard to expand and improve the medical and mental health supports available to students.
Satisfaction is very high (94%) among students who access services at the Student Health and Wellness Centre. At the same time, dissatisfaction is high among students who have trouble getting an appointment due to limited capacity.
As demand for services continues to grow, additional capacity is needed to ensure students can access care when they need it.
The reality
University life can be both exciting and demanding at the same time. In a recent survey, more than half of all uOttawa students told us they experience moderate to severe mental health challenges, a reality that extends beyond our campus. Research consistently shows that mental health, physical health and social well-being are directly tied to outcomes such as GPA, retention rates and graduation rates. This matters to us.
Lowest health ancillary fees in Ontario
Sustaining and strengthening health and wellness services requires ongoing investment and thoughtful use of resources. The University’s health ancillary fees are the lowest in Ontario. Yet they play an important role in supporting these services, alongside financing strategies and significant continued investment by the University, including covering the rising costs of academic accommodations.
More appointments. More access. More care.
The University is asking students to consider a proposal that would help us strengthen access to care by setting the health ancillary fees at $58 per term for all full-time students. This would align the fees with the Ontario university average and harmonize them across the student community, since undergraduate and graduate students use these medical and mental health services at the same rate.
If approved, this proposal would support an increase of up to 20,000 additional medical and mental health appointments each year, bringing the total to up to 58,000 appointments annually.
Students will have the opportunity to vote in a referendum on whether this proposal should move forward from March 24 to 27, 2026. All active students enrolled in the winter 2026 term who pay the health ancillary fees are eligible to vote (including students on co-op work terms). Watch your uOttawa email inbox for details on how to vote.
Learn more
How does a referendum work? What does the health ancillary fee cover now? What will the fee increase enable us to do?