Student FAQs

Yes, you may come to campus if you are not vaccinated. 

COVID-19 is a virus that is unlikely to be eliminated from the population but can be managed in the same manner as other common respiratory infections. Those of us who are able to get vaccinated contribute to a safe campus environment and help support our campus safety plan. All students, including international students, are eligible to be vaccinated. 

Learn about the COVID-19 vaccines and register to be vaccinated with BC's Get Vaccinated system, if you choose to do so. 

International students will be eligible for vaccination once they arrive in BC and can find information online to book an appointment without a Personal Health Number (PHN).

If you are concerned that you, or someone you have been exposed to, may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (for example dry cough or fever), please find out if you need to self-isolate or self-monitor and for how long. 

The length of time you will need to self-isolate or self-monitor depends on your situation and test results. The BC Centre for Disease Control has a self-assessment tool that you can assess symptoms. If symptoms worsen, please call 8-1-1 or your health care provider.

The province has a phone service to provide non-medical information about COVID-19, including the latest information on travel recommendations and social distancing. Information is available in more than 110 languages, 7:30 am-­8:00 pm at 1.888.COVID19 (1.888.268.4319) or via text message at 604.630.0300.

For more information and the latest updates, visit the BC Centre for Disease Control and their FAQ on COVID-19.

Canada's latest travel advisories are posted here.

The latest information for travel restrictions, and guidelines for those who are entering Canada, are on the Government of Canada website.

For the safety of Langara College’s community, during this time of the Global Pandemic, travel outside Canada by staff, faculty and students for College-related activities and business remains restricted to essential travel purposes and for those countries with travel advisories 2 or lower. Please read the COVID-19 Outbound Travel Policy for further details.

International students who are traveling into Canada for their program will find more information on the Quarantine Resources webpage.

The majority of classes have returned to face to face instruction, however some classes will continue to be online or mixed mode hybrid face to support student needs.

Online (off campus) Courses

Section numbers will include “W”. Example: W03, AW2, BW1. Type and location will be “www”. Online classes will be scheduled in one of three ways

1. Scheduled days and times to meet through an online platform such as Brightspace.
2. No scheduled time to meet, class lectures and assignments are delivered through an online platform such as Brightspace.
3. Mix of scheduled and non-scheduled instruction. These sections will indicate both a meeting day and time for the scheduled portion, and "www" to indicate the non-scheduled portion of the course.

Mixed Mode Courses

Will have some online and some on-campus delivery. These sections will begin with "M". The in-person portion of the course will have scheduled days, times, and room numbers, and the type will be either "Lab" or "Lecture". The online portion will indicate "www" as the location. The online portion may or may not have scheduled meeting times. Note: Mixed Mode courses require that you be living in the Metro Vancouver area.

Fully On-Campus Courses

Will have section numbers beginning with "0" (zero), "A" or "B". For example, 001, 016, A03. They will have scheduled days, times, and room numbers when classes are held. Note: On-campus courses require that you be living in the Metro Vancouver area.

If you are registered in an online or mixed mode course, here are the basic technical requirements needed for most courses:

• internet-connected device (laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone)
• keyboard or equivalent (e.g. speech to text input) for text entry
• webcam or camera on smartphone
• microphone, either built in or external (e.g. earbuds, headset)

If you do not have access to equipment that meets these minimum standards, computer labs that are open on campus meet these requirements (with the exception of webcam/camera and microphone/earbuds). 

Please note that some courses may have other, higher, computing requirements due to their specific content. Consult your course syllabus or contact your instructor for more information. Continuing Studies students who have concerns about whether their equipment will work for their course are encouraged to contact their Program Coordinator.

Courses that are being delivered online will stay online for the full semester – students will not be required to attend in-person instruction part way though the semester.

Exams for online courses will be delivered online. There will be no exams written on campus for courses that are 100% delivered online.

Most online courses are accessed through Brightspace. Login to Brightspace using your Langara email address and password.

In order to access Brightspace and other college systems you must activate your Computer User ID (CUID). Learn how to activare your Computer User ID.

The College is currently undertaking a thorough assessment of the privacy impacts of using Zoom for instructional and administrative purposes.

• Students may participate in a Zoom session (meeting or webinar) without providing their full name. They can choose to have just their first name displayed if they wish.

• Students and instructors should not use the audio, video, or chat features of Zoom to share personal information about themselves or others.

• Any recordings made by instructors of Zoom sessions are stored locally on the instructor’s device, not in the cloud.

• Zoom stores data in the cloud in data centres located in several different countries. Recently, Zoom introduced a feature that allows users to select a particular country to store Zoom session content. Langara has selected the Canada Region as the default storage location for its Zoom accounts.

• Metadata, such as information about users’ computer devices and network configuration, is currently stored outside of Canada. However, the College has directed Zoom to fully provision its account in the Canada Region data centre and expects Zoom to comply shortly. This means that all data will be stored in Canada.

• Zoom versions 5.0 and later include enhanced security features, such as more robust data encryption of data in transit and data at rest. All users should ensure they are using version 5.0 or later.

Online courses are added to your profile after the instructor activates the course – this usually happens on or just after the first day of classes. It is important to check your myLangara email regularly as you may hear from your instructor before the first class. Some instructors will wait for the course to start before communicating with students. You should log in to each of your Brightspace courses as soon as they appear in your profile. 

If you have not heard about a specific course that you are registred in, and it is after the first scheduled class, please email us at returntocampus@langara.ca, with the following information, so we can follow up:

• Course name
• Course number
• Section (if known)
• Instructor

Online Learning Tools

Langara has several online learning tools that your instructors are using to continue your courses online. Your instructors will contact you and let you know which tools you will use in each class.

Brightspace by D2L, formerly known as D2L, is Langara’s online course management system. Most of your instructors use Brightspace, and you will access online course content such as notes, readings, assignments, quizzes and exams using the Brightspace platform.

Help for using Brightspace can be found here: https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/brightspace/

Kaltura MediaSpace is an online media hosting/streaming service similar to YouTube. You can use MediaSpace to upload, edit, and share your media with other users, and for inserting media into your Brightspace courses.

Help using Kaltura MediaSpace can be found here: https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/mediaspace/

Zoom is a web conferencing solution that provides screen sharing, meetings, live chat, and a lot more. Most often, you will join a meeting by clicking on a link in an email sent to you by the meeting host – no account required.

Help using Zoom can be found here: https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/how-to/zoom/

CourseWeb is Langara College’s implementation of WordPress.

Help using CourseWeb can be found here: https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/courseweb/

IT Knowledge Base - Easily find solutions to common issues such as activating computer IDs, resetting passwords, connecting to WiFi, and using printers.

Help with IT can be found here: https://langara.rightanswers.com/portal/ss/

A Quick Guide to Langara’s learning tools is available here: https://iweb.langara.bc.ca/lts/

Online Writing Support

• Submit your writing anytime and get detailed feedback in 48 hours.  You can also submit a short question about getting started with your writing, grammar or style. 
• Individual writing assignments only.  Tutors cannot help with group-written assignments or take home exams.

• Real time tutoring from the Langara Writing Centre
• Sign up online and book an appointment with a tutor who can communicate with you via camera, voice, and text while working with your writing.

Self-help Writing Guides
The Writing Centre has self-help guides to get you started. Here are some popular ones:

• The Research Essay or Term Paper
• How to Summarize
• How to Quote
• More guides

Subject Tutoring
Writing & Tutoring Centre

• For subject tutoring schedules and details, visit the Learning Commons website.
• For writing help and to make an appointment with a tutor, visit the Writing Centre website.

Math & Stats Activity Centre (MSAC)

• MSAC schedule is available

Virtual Learning Support

For support with academic and online learning questions, visit the Virtual Learning Support website.

There are multiple places on campus for students to rest or study that include outlets for your devices. Note that these spaces may not always be quiet, and therefore we suggest you bring noise-cancelling earphones or ear plugs if possible. For quiet study areas, the Library is your best option. 

• Visit the IT knowledge Base – The IT knowledge base is a self-serve portal for IT help. There are hundreds of troubleshooting articles that can be accessed, just make sure to login so that you can view all of the tips and tricks.

• Chat with IT through remote support – During support hours, you can chat with an IT representative who can help guide you through technical challenges.

• Submit an IT Help request – Submit an online request for the IT team to take a look at a specific issue and provide a solution.

30 laptops are available to be borrowed for the duration of one week or an entire semester. There is no charge to borrow a laptop, however photo ID (Student ID or government ID) and a student number must be provided when picking up the computer. 

Learn more about the Student Laptop Borrowing Program.

Students are required to have an Adobe Creative Cloud license to continue to use Adobe CC on personal computers or in the Citrix environment (including all Citrix labs on campus).

Some courses will continue to provide Adobe CC license to students. For the list of the courses with Adobe CC license please see Student Access to Adobe CC. Login with your Langara email at the top right corner to see the knowledge base article.

If additional courses need to be added to the list, instructors need to submit a request through the Ask-IT form for IT to assess the request.

For students who are enrolled in courses that provide Adobe CC access (see more detail here), please make sure you use “Company or School Account”. 

Langara Emergency Funding
If you find yourself in an emergency situation, and in need of funding, please contact the Financial Aid department at finaid@langara.ca. 

Government COVID-19 Benefits and Services
Find provincial benefits and services that fit your situation.

The Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training has announced that applications for StudentAid BC, along with the new non-repayable B.C. Access Grant, are now open. Every student who applies for StudentAid BC will now be automatically assessed for the new B.C. Access Grant. Aimed at low- and middle-income students, the grant will provide up to $4,000 a year to help eligible students with the upfront cost of programs leading to a certificate, diploma or degree. 

The Langara Community Cupboard provides one week’s worth of non-perishable food items per student per week. The Langara Community Cupboard provides one week's worth of non-perishable food items per student per week and can be accessed by visiting room B027 in B Building between 10 am–2 pm Monday–Friday. The Community Cupboard is not open on weekends, statutory holidays, or during campus closures. 

Students are asked to complete the Community Cupboard Online Form, before accessing their bag of non-perishable groceries.

Please see resources for an additional list of food banks located in the Lower Mainland. 

The extended health and dental plan is administered by the Langara Students' Union. As new information is available it is being posted on the StudentCare website.