New Student Orientation

Registration for new students is ongoing and can be facilitated through an appointment with an Academic Advisor Be sure to download the Guide to Choosing your First-Year Courses and the How to Use Self-Serve info to set up your course plan with the courses you would like to take.

If you’d like to speak to an advisor one-on-one, book an Academic Advising Appointment. Our academic advisors use the Jane platform for advising appointments. Please click on a name below to book an appointment with one of the following academic advisors depending on your availability:

• Norbert Caparicia
• Emily Shannon

Once your grades for your current studies are finalized, NSCAD needs to receive an updated version of your official transcript. Once we receive these final transcripts, they will be evaluated for any transfer credits. Please also provide us with any IB or AP transcripts that you may have if you were an IB or AP student in high school.

• If you just graduated from a Nova Scotia public high school, NSCAD University will simply obtain a copy of your final transcripts through the Nova Scotia Department of Education. No further action is required.
• For everyone else, you will have to ask your last institution attended to send your final official transcripts to us via email or mail.
  • Most post-secondary students should be able to send their transcript to us through the MyCreds Portal.
  • High schools and post-secondary schools can also send transcripts directly from the institution via email (admissions@nscad.ca) or mail to:  5163 Duke St. Halifax, NS, B3J 3J6.
  • If you have already submitted your final transcripts, please move on to the next step.

Whether you’ve taken WHMIS training before or not, in the interest of safety, all NSCAD students must have Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System Training (WHMIS) certification to enter workshops and studios.

The WHMIS course is offered online to all students free of charge through their personal Brightspace account. You will have access to Brightspace three (3) days before classes begin to login to complete the training.

Once you’ve completed this training, stop by the Office of Student Experience on the 2nd Floor of the Duke Building (5163 Duke Street) to pick up your WHMIS sticker for your ID card! Have your WHMIS completion confirmation email in hand to show us so we can issue the sticker.

Watch your NSCAD email account for instructions on how to RSVP for New Student Orientation Day, which will be held on Friday, September 4, 2026.

The RSVP form will ask for information we need from you in advance to arrange:

• your Student ID Card
• your Building Access Card
• your Library Barcode

More information regarding Orientation will be sent to new students in the coming weeks, so please keep an eye on your NSCAD email account.

Once you know your local address in Halifax, you’ll need to login to Self-Service and complete your student profile by submitting your address and emergency contacts. We’ll need your most current Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) address. We will use this address should we need to contact you by post (which we don’t do very often but still need to do from time to time!)

We also require contact information for two safe people we can connect with in case of an emergency:

• One contact should live in Nova Scotia – this can be a friend, roommate, coworker, residence staff, etc.
• One is a personal emergency contact – this can be anyone that you would like us to contact in case of emergency, within or outside of Canada.

Review the International Student Pre-Arrival Guide for important information about arriving in Canada and at NSCAD! Please note that you should always reference the IRCC Website for the most up-to-date information on IRCC programs, policies and procedures.

• For international students, IRCC sends compliance reports to the University each semester for updates on international student status. You must remain in full-time status to not violate your agreement with the Government of Canada.
• For all degree and certificate international students, you MUST bring your original study permit to  ‘Registration’ on New Student Orientation Day (September 4) or to the Office of Student Experience (second floor at Fountain Campus, opposite the elevator) before September 30, 2026.
• For exchange students ONLY – please take your passport to the Office of Student Experience before September 30, 2026.

If not, we recommend you check out the NSCAD Housing Information Page. While NSCAD does not operate its own residence, we have some recommendations on where to start.