Taking a Leave of Absence From Graduate School in Canada
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Graduate & Professional School, Canadian Universities & Colleges
A graduate leave of absence pauses your program, your funding and often your health coverage clock, without counting against your enrolled time. Approval runs through your graduate studies office, and provincial health plans like OHIP set their own rules for how long you can be away and still keep coverage.
📩 Apply for leave formally through your graduate studies office, not only through an informal talk with your supervisor
💵 Funding and stipend payments usually pause during an unpaid leave
🏠 Provincial health coverage has its own absence rules, separate from your university's leave policy
⏱️ Most programs cap total leave time and require a set return date
What a leave of absence actually means
A leave of absence pauses your registration and your program clock rather than ending your studies. It differs from withdrawing, which ends your enrollment, and from a reduced course load, which keeps you registered part time. During an approved leave, your program time limit typically pauses too, so a 6-month leave doesn't shrink the years you have left to finish.
Common types of leave
Medical leave, for your own health condition, usually requiring documentation from a physician
Parental leave, around the birth or adoption of a child
Family or compassionate leave, for caring for a family member or a family emergency
Personal leave, for circumstances your program doesn't classify under the categories above, approval standards vary more here
Each type can carry different documentation requirements and different funding treatment, so check your specific program's graduate handbook rather than assuming one leave type works the same as another.
What happens to your funding
Most Canadian graduate funding packages, whether from TA positions, RA positions or internal scholarships, pause along with your registration during an unpaid leave. Some universities offer a short period of paid leave, particularly for medical or parental circumstances, before switching to unpaid status. Ask your graduate studies office directly what portion of a specific leave, if any, continues to pay a stipend, since this varies by university and by leave type.
What happens to your health coverage
Your university health and dental plan, if you have one through a graduate student association, usually has its own continuation rules during a leave, separate from provincial health coverage. Check with your student union or graduate student association before your leave starts.
Provincial health plans set their own residency rules regardless of your university leave status. In Ontario, OHIP eligibility requires you to be physically present in the province for at least 153 days in any 12-month period, and being outside Ontario for more than 212 days in a 12-month period can mean you need to reapply for coverage. Other provinces run similar residency-based systems under their own plans, RAMQ in Quebec, MSP in British Columbia and AHCIP in Alberta among others. If your leave involves travel or a move out of province, confirm your specific plan's absence rules before you go, not after you return.
How to apply for a leave
Talk to your supervisor first if the leave reason allows, since they need to plan around your absence from lab or research work
Request the leave of absence form from your graduate studies office and check what documentation it requires for your leave type
Submit before your leave starts where possible, some universities do not backdate approval
Confirm in writing what happens to your funding, your health coverage and your program time limit for the specific leave you're taking
Set a return date and confirm what you need to do to reactivate your registration when you're ready to come back
Coming back from leave
Reactivating your registration usually requires a form submitted before your term of return, sometimes with a set deadline such as a month before term start. Confirm your supervisor still has capacity and funding for you, particularly after a longer leave, since lab space, funding lines and committee availability can change while you're away.
Documentation you'll likely need
A completed leave of absence form from your graduate studies office, specifying the leave type and requested dates
Supporting documentation matched to your leave type: a physician's note for medical leave, proof of birth or adoption for parental leave
Written sign-off from your supervisor confirming they are aware of the leave and its expected length
Confirmation from your funding source, whether a TA position, RA position or scholarship, on how the leave affects payment
Common leave-of-absence mistakes
Students most often run into trouble by treating a leave as informal, taking time away without filing paperwork because a supervisor said it was fine. Without a formal leave on record, your program time limit keeps running, your funding status can become unclear, and your health coverage continuity is not documented anywhere. File the paperwork even when your supervisor and department are supportive and the leave feels straightforward.