Time off, leave and withdrawals

Sick days and COVID-19 

You should stay home when you are sick and seek medical attention if necessary. This is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

If you suspect that you have COVID-19, you should: 

• follow the Ontario Ministry of Health self-assessment tool or the U of T screening tool: UCheck 
• inform your supervisor and the University’s Occupational Health Nurse (ehs.occhealth@utoronto.ca) 

Verification of Illness or Injury form or “doctor’s note”

The Verification of Illness or Injury form (also known as a “doctor’s note”) may be required for a missed academic obligation in some circumstances.

It is the official University of Toronto form for all students who are requesting academic consideration based on illness or injury. 

Time off 

There are no specific departmental regulations regarding how much time off you may take for vacations and personal days. You should have a discussion with your supervisor to come to an agreement on the duration and timing of scheduled absences. 

You and your supervisor should consider that: 

• Taking some time off each year is important for your well-being. 
• You should avoid missing classes when scheduling time off. 
• You should minimize disruptions to your research progress when scheduling time off. This might mean that you should delay taking time off if it compromises a long-term experiment or during a manuscript revision process with a defined deadline. 

Leaves of Absence  

A leave of absence may be requested for parental leave, health problems or personal problems. 

Information regarding leaves of absence may be found in the School of Graduate Studies Leave of Absence Policy

Withdrawals  

If, for any reason, you wish to withdraw from your program, please contact the graduate office for assistance.

lmp.grad@utoronto.ca