Arriving in Canada
You’re an international student and everything is new at once: the paperwork, the city, the winter.
Your first year of university
Accepted? Here’s what’s next.
Your guide to first year: school, life away from home, and every student benefit that’s already yours. Free for students.
Your next step
Pay your tuition deposit
Due Friday, in 6 days
Money or status deadline
Orient drafts the email. You check it and send it.
To: Student accounts office
Hello, I’m an incoming first-year student. I’m trying to pay my tuition deposit and I’m stuck. Could you tell me what I should do next? Thank you.
- Free for students
- Every step links to the official source
- Every source shows when it was last checked
Why Orient exists
First year is a new school and a new life at the same time. Classes and deadlines, and also rent, groceries, winter and missing home.
Orient helps with both. Everything you need to do well in first year, in one place.
The path
From your offer to the end of first year.
School and life, in one place. Walk through a year with Orient.
Every path is tailored to you.
A few questions at the start, and Orient builds yours, in your language. See how it changes:
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Stage 1
Before university
From your offer to the day you arrive.
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Offer accepted
One step, with a date
You never get a long checklist. You see your next step and when it’s due. Steps that cost money are marked.
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The same day
Your documents, in order
What you need, where to get it, and a short guide for each one. Only the ones that apply to you.
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Every step
The official source, every time
Each step links to the official page and shows when it was last checked.
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Moving soonBefore classes
Get to know your cityGet to know your campus
Groceries, clinics, buses and a taste of home, all on a map before you arrive.
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Stage 2
Orientation
Your first days on campus.
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Student card picked up
Press done. The next step opens.
One thing at a time, in the right order.
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Orientation week
Find your people
Opt in to meet students from your city, your residence or your background, and see the clubs near you.
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Stage 3
First semester
Week by week, from your first class to exams.
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Week 1
Use everything you’ve paid for
Your fees already cover more than you think. Orient shows you what, and how to use it.
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Week 2
Your classes, sorted
Add your course outlines. See this week’s topic, your room, every date, and your marks.
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All term
The dates that cost money get marked
Fees, add and drop deadlines, exams. In plain words, before they cost you.
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Every Monday
Your week, on one card
What matters now, plus a short email every Monday.
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Whenever you need it
StuckStuck? You’re not on your own
Ask Orient anything. It answers from checked content, or drafts a short email to the right office for you to send.
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Stage 4
Second semester
New courses, new routines.
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January
Winter term, marked too
New fees, drop and withdrawal dates, all in front of you early.
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February
A budget that lasts the term
Your plan for winter, with local costs.
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Reading week
Guides that fit you
Short lessons that change with where you’re from and how you live.
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March
Where do I go?
Describe the problem. Get the right office, its hours and a link.
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Stage 5
Leaving first year ready
Exams, summer and what comes next.
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April
Ready for summer, and second year
Housing, a summer job or going home, and choosing next year’s courses.
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And after
It doesn’t end with first year.
Orient grows with you, and any student can use it.
- Upcoming
Second year and beyond
Your path keeps going: new courses, housing, jobs and what comes next.
Any student can use it
Students at any school in Canada get the Canada-wide guide, whatever year they’re in.
- Upcoming
More on the way
More schools, more cities and new features, built with students.
Orient shows you the official steps and deadlines and connects you with licensed advisors for anything that needs a professional.
Who it’s for
Every first-year, with a path that fits.
Moving cities on your own
It’s your first time living away from home, and nobody has handed you the order of things.
Coming back for university
You grew up abroad and you’re returning for school. Home on paper, new in practice.
Also for students living at home, in residence, transferring in, starting later in life, or first in their family at university. Your answers shape your path.
Starting in Ottawa. At another school? You’ll still get the guide to university life in Canada.
Your privacy
Your information stays yours.
- Your university never sees your documents, messages, budget, health, or what you choose to skip.
- Universities see totals, not names, unless you ask them to contact you.
- Stored in Canada. Delete your account and everything about you any time.
- No ads and no trackers.
Early access
Get your first step.
Orient is opening to a first group of students in Ottawa. Join the list and we’ll write to you when it’s your turn.
- Free for students
- Four questions, under a minute
One more tap: press send.
Your email app should have opened with your answers filled in. Send that email and you’re on the list.
Nothing opened? Write to admin@orientapp.ca with these details:
For universities
See where your incoming students get stuck.
Orient is free for students. Universities license it to see, stage by stage, where an incoming class slows down, while there’s still time to help.
- Built to reduce no-shows. Admitted students see their next step from the day they accept.
- Built to keep students on track. The deadlines that cost students money are in front of them early.
- Built to WCAG 2.0 AA. Accessibility is part of the product from the start.
- Privacy built in. Totals only, small groups hidden, data stored in Canada.
For international offices and student-success teams. This opens an email to admin@orientapp.ca.
Work with us Upcoming
We’re planning a way for housing providers, banks and phone carriers who serve new students to reach them, with no paid placement and no ads. Interested? Write to admin@orientapp.ca.