COVID-19 Information

Stay up-to-date with how you can help keep our community safe.

Updated September 25, 2023

Acadia University is pleased to provide our students, faculty, and staff with the opportunity to learn and work together safely.

We follow the advice of Nova Scotia’s Public Health Authority and our Occupational Health and Safety Committee. We expect all employees, students, contractors, and visitors to campus to do the same.

Acadia is advising students to use the declaration form for COVID-19 related absences.

Although masking is no longer mandated on campus, Acadia is mask-friendly and encourages mask use.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS

  • If experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and its variants or other seasonal illnesses, please stay at home. If unable to, please wear a mask and follow all public health directives and recommendations while moving around campus.
  • Campus community members and visitors are urged to take personal precautions to keep themselves and others healthy.
  • Please be considerate of those in our community with health conditions that place them in high-risk categories or live with individuals with high-risk health concerns.
  • Remember to respect those who choose to wear masks in public places.

This website will continue to be updated as needed.

 

Vaccination is your best shot

Although proof of vaccination is not required to attend campus, in keeping with Public Health guidance, you are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and its variants, including having any booster shots that you are eligible to receive in your home province or country.

Being fully vaccinated protects you from a serious illness and helps reduce the spread of the virus when your symptoms are kept to a minimum. We also encourage you to monitor your health for signs of symptoms and take appropriate precautions. Washing your hands regularly and wearing a mask in indoor public spaces are great ways to reduce your potential for catching and spreading the virus to others.

Latest Updates

View all COVID-19 Updates 

Need Help?

Need Information?

Need Answers?

Contact residencelife@acadiau.ca for residence-related COVID-19 inquiries, and visit our Student Services page for mental health support and more.

Employees should speak with their direct supervisor.

COVID-19 Symptom Daily Self-Assessment

Thank you for doing your part to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Watch for symptoms:

Symptoms can vary from person to person and in different age groups. Symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear after exposure to COVID-19. The severity of COVID-19 symptoms can range from mild to severe, and in some cases, can lead to death. Current information suggests most people don't experience severe illness or need to be hospitalized.

You need to self-isolate and complete a COVID-19 self-assessment if in the past 48 hours you've had or you're currently experiencing:

  • cough (new or worsening)

or

  • 2 or more of the following symptoms:
    • fever (chills, sweats)
    • headache
    • runny nose or nasal congestion
    • sore throat
    • shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Follow the prompts to determine if you require a rapid test or a PCR test.

Isolation Protocols

If you are experiencing symptoms, please isolate and stay home. Isolating means that you remain in your personal residence room or personal space (off-campus), avoid all contact with others, and do not allow others to visit you. You can use the washroom and disinfect, but wear a mask when you need to walk through common areas and do not share kitchen facilities. This is required by the Province of Nova Scotia Emergency Act and there can be fines starting at $2422.

Students

If you are a student and need to self-isolate:

  1. Contact Safety and Security (902-585-1103 or email security.office@acadiau.ca). We can help you and coordinate any supports you might need, including meal delivery if you live in residence.
  2. Notify your instructors to let them know you will not be physically present in class. They can arrange alternatives to keep you informed (remotely or otherwise) about classroom activities and assignments.
  3. Complete a COVID-19 self-assessment from the province to determine if you need a rapid test or PCR test, then book an appointment if needed.

Employees

If you are an employee or contractor working on campus and need to self-isolate:

  1. Contact your direct supervisor to let them know you will not be physically present on campus.
  2. Discuss your ability to perform your duties remotely or work out an alternative arrangement.
  3. Complete a COVID-19 self-assessment from the province to determine if you need a rapid test or PCR test, then book an appointment if needed.

If you are on-campus when symptoms occur

  1. Wash your hands.
  2. Wear a mask.
  3. Contact Safety and Security (902-585-1103 or email security.office@acadiau.ca). If you are an employee, also notify your immediate supervisor that you need to leave work.
  4. Go directly to your residence room or home with no stops. Wear your mask until you are in your personal space. Practice physical distancing and stay in your room except to go to the bathroom.
  5. Complete a COVID-19 self-assessment from the province to determine if you need a rapid test or PCR test, then book an appointment if needed.

If you test positive for COVID-19

  • Visit Public Health’s Tested Positive site and follow their guidance.
  • You will need to isolate for 7 full days, with your first day of symptoms considered “Day 0”.
    • For example, if you feel symptoms on January 2 (Day 0) and test positive on January 3 (Day 1), you would be required to isolate until end of day, January 9. To leave isolation, you must have no fever for 24 hours, and your symptoms should be almost absent or gone.
    • If you are not experiencing symptoms, then you would use the same time span using the positive test as Day 0, and moving forward from there.
  • Do not come to campus.
  • If you live in residence, do not leave your room except to go to the bathroom. please call Safety and Security at 902-585-1103 so they can ensure you are isolating, have the resources you need, and deliver meals to you. Please reach out to Safety and Security if you are having any concerns or issues.
  • Determine your close contacts. Identify which day your symptoms began and then go back 48 hours (which is when you would have begun being infectious) until you began isolating. For example, if your symptoms began on a Wednesday, consider all your activities beginning that Monday until you began isolating. Identify individuals, places, times, and if you removed masks during those times.

Mask and Vaccination Policies

Anyone coming to campus should continue to complete a daily symptom check. Effective April 30, we continue to encourage you to wear a mask and ensure you are fully vaccinated, but masks and social distancing are no longer mandatory.

Client Service

Be prepared for changes as we move through the Omicron wave/sixth wave of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. Some services and departments may require a change in hours of operation, move to an appointment-only or remote model. We encourage you to contact the department or visit their website before visiting.

The provincial government has completed its three-phase reopening plan, and almost all province-wide restrictions (gathering, social distancing, etc.) have been dropped. Some restrictions remain in place in high-risk settings, such as healthcare and continuing care.

Provincial News Updates

Read the latest provincial news updates 

The provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador have announced that they are suspending the 'Atlantic Bubble' travel agreement for two weeks, effective November 24 and November 25 respectively. Prince Edward Island has also suspended non-essential travel.

Yesterday, a department head sent a message to a group of students and faculty out of an abundance of caution to temporarily cease in-person activities within that program. They were advised that a student in that program had chosen to self-isolate while a friend awaits a COVID-19 test result. Their friend is not connected to Acadia.

The University appreciates the student taking the extra precaution of self-isolating. However, there is no confirmed exposure to COVID-19 for that individual at this time.

We are sending this message to clarify the situation to our campus and community. And to let you know, there is no change to our campus status or permitted activities at this time.

This situation is a good opportunity to remind us to continue checking for COVID-19 symptoms daily before being on campus and staying away if we feel ill or exhibit symptoms. If you are instructed to self-isolate, please advise Safety and Security and follow up with your instructors or supervisor. Details for checking and contacting 811 are available on the COVID-19 information website.

We thank the individual student who is choosing to self-isolate for taking precautions, and we hope they will stay well.

If you have concerns or questions, please contact our Occupational Health Nurse Caroliina Landry.

 

Thank you,

Dr. Dale Keefe

Provost and Vice-President, Academic

Effective immediately, November 10, 2020, Acadia University will offer students some less restrictive options to study on campus.

Five locations are now mask-exempt to allow students to remove their masks indoors, provided they are seated and physically distanced from others.

Atlantic University Sport (AUS) is expected to make an announcement regarding return to competition for winter sports teams in the next few weeks. Should the AUS announce restrictions will be lifted, we will reopen the pool to provide our varsity swim team student-athletes with the facilities they need in order to compete, just as we do for other winter term sports.

According to IRCC's new travel update, as of October 20, 2020, international students may be authorized to travel to Canada if the designated learning institution (DLI) they are attending is listed on IRCC's website with an approved COVID-19 readiness plan. Acadia University is expected to be on the updated DLI list by November 3, 2020.

Students who wish to study on-campus will need to arrive by January 3rd, self-isolate for 14 days, and have a valid study permit or letter of introduction. Please visit the Wong International Centre for more information.

As you may be aware, New Brunswick is currently facing a resurgence of COVID-19 with 66 new cases in the past 5 days and a number of public exposure notices. We are aware that some of you may have chosen to visit New Brunswick this weekend and, as such, are asking that all members of our community take additional precautions over the next two weeks.

Acadia University will stay the course and welcome students back to campus for a COVID-19-ready Winter 2021 term with a hybrid approach to teaching and learning. Dr. Peter Ricketts, Acadia’s President and Vice-Chancellor, announced the plan directly to students, faculty and staff on October 8, 2020, via email.

Acadia University announced today that it will keep its swimming pool closed indefinitely. The difficult decision was made for two reasons – to ensure the safety and well-being of pool users and to address annual financial losses. “These two factors make this an unfortunate but necessary decision at this time,” said Chris Callbeck, Vice-President, Finance and Administration, and CFO.

Welcome to a new academic year at Acadia University! Although there is hardly a more beautiful campus than ours in the fall, some things will look and feel different as we implement public health guidelines to keep us safe.

This year more than ever, we are called upon to care for one other.

The onset of the global Coronavirus pandemic has challenged us to improvise and adapt to new ways of living our lives, conducting our business, and relating to one another. Our personal wellbeing, and the health and safety of our neighbours and loved ones has been in sharp focus over the past six months.