Details

• Canada
• BaWiSo-19
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

Don‘t stress too much about the interview. Try preparing as much as possible and be prepared to answer questions that could be interesting for WU (“How will your exchange experience change your studies at WU?”,…). Start as early as possible with booking your flights otherwise it can get very expensive! For me, it helped a lot to meet up with the other exchange student from WU with whom I’ve flown to Ottawa with. You can can get used to your new lives together and have someone you can ask for help before you meet all the other exchangies :)

2. Accommodation

Start looking EARLY! It is pretty difficult to find something affordable which is not on the other side of the city. I didn’t get on-campus accommodation but opted for an off campus shared house nearby. Sandy Hill is a very good neighbourhood!! It is safe, all your neighbours will be uOttawa students and it took me only 10 minutes by foot to get to university. If you’re going on exchange in the winter semester, be aware that 15-20 minutes by foot can feel longer in -25°C, so keep that in mind before finding a place further away from campus. I would 1000% recommend getting the meal-plan! It helped us all to find friends since most exchange students have it. Start with the 5-day one, you can still upgrade it to the 7-day one once you’re there. Most of my friends were living on campus and they all liked it very much, so if you can afford it, I would recommend this as well since it’s the easiest way to get in touch with other (exchange) students. If you do live further away and need to use public transport, you are allowed to get the U-Pass, be aware: once you’re opted in, you can’t opt out and you have to pay for it!

3. Academic life at host university

I’d say campus facilities are a bit more outdated than the ones at WU, but it still is rather similar. The teaching style is similar as well. It is not as casual as they all describe it to be (we still called our professors by their last names) but if you like to stay for a chat after class they will be far more open for these types of conversations. All in all, the relationship seems more personal, most professors come from the work fields their teaching so you will hear many personal anecdotes in classes. Course wise, I wouldn’t recommend Consumer Behaviour since the professor didn’t make the lessons interesting. I took one 4th-year course which was very interesting but you could definitely see a difference in the level of difficulty compared to the 3rd-year courses I took (it was also more time-consuming). Nonetheless, all the courses were easier than the ones at WU, the professor’s expectations are rather low but that really depends on the professor.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public Transport in Ottawa is ok, you have a metro station right on campus to get to the most important locations (airport, rideau centre) but we’ve just used Uber since it is super cheap there. Around Rideau Centre you will see a lot of homeless people or individuals struggling with drug addictions, it isn’t a problem during the day but I wouldn’t recommend walking there alone at night. Other than that, Ottawa is very safe, I often just walked home from nearby pubs and never felt unsafe. If you love sports, you’re definitely at the right place! We’ve visited the Senators’ Hockey Games, skated on the Rideau Canal and visited workout classes at uOttawa. The university has countless different sports options. From playing hockey, doing yoga or pilates, going to one of the two gyms or swimming in the pool – We’ve also played a lot of volleyball and basketball as a group :) And you don’t have to pay extra for these activities! We loved visiting pubs (Heart&Crown was our favourite, with their karaoke nights every Wednesday), going to “The Show” for clubbing or visiting Bank Street for some shopping. Weekend trips to Toronto, Montréal or Quebec City are easy to plan since you can reach those destinations in under 4 hours.

6. Testimonial

Although a lot of people told me Ottawa was the most boring city in Canada, I had the best time there by meeting a lot of new friends, enjoying Canadian Winter with a lot of snow and sunshine (almost) everyday and experiencing Canadian culture (Poutine, Hockey,…)! My advice would be to stay open to your host country/ city, have a flexible mind and travel as much as you can :)) But: plan trips ahead, since it can be challenging managing a get away with a lot of people ;)