Canada has a universal healthcare system, but navigating it as a graduate student can be tricky. The good news is that we have created a set of slides to help you! You can find them here.
In summary, there are three cogs in the health system that you should be aware of:
Pursuing a graduate degree can often feel like both a sprint and a marathon, but it’s important that you prioritize your mental (and physical) health!
As a graduate student, the AMS/GSS Studentcare insurance includes generous mental health coverage: you get 100% off of the cost of therapy sessions up to $1,250 per year. Check the Studentcare website for more details. Generally, you can visit any mental health practitioner you want, but Studentcare is partnered with a provider called PsyVitalitï that provides online therapy sessions at $130 /session. This way, your AMS/GSS Studentcare insurance covers the entire cost of over 9 sessions a year.
If you need more support, UBC offers some additional services and resources:
For more information about these or other resources, the Student Services webpage and the resources for graduate students webpage are a great place to start.
If you are just feeling a little down and would like to talk to someone, reach out to any of the graduate student executives! We’d be happy to chat and to help if we can :)
Last updated: April 6, 2023