Making a payment

The most efficient means of paying student fees is through telephone or internet banking, from a Canadian bank account. McGill is registered with most of the major Canadian banks for this service. When you set McGill up as a bill, the bank will request an account number. Please quote your 9 digit McGill ID number. If you are a guest making a payment on behalf of a student, please quote the 9 digit McGill ID of the student for whom you are making the payment. Note that a common mistake that some guests have made is to enter the McGill ID assigned to the guest. This has resulted in the account of the guest being credited with the funds, and NOT the student’s account. See here for specific instructions on how a guest may pay their student's fees.

Please allow two working days for your payment transaction to be reflected on your fee account. For your convenience, links to the major banks are found on the Minerva e-billing website.

It is important to note that payment by credit card is not considered a method of payment through online banking. If you pay with a credit card through your online bank account, it will be considered a cash advance, and daily interest will be charged on this amount by your credit card company.

Tip: You may wish to set up recurring payments. This is useful for students with monthly housing charges, or for those who wish to schedule future payments.

This payment method is available for Canadian and US financial institutions. The pre-authorized debit (or e-cheque) option is available through the e-payment sub-menu on the e-billing and e-payments menu in Minerva. To subscribe to this service, you are required to sign a one-time agreement stating that McGill University may debit your bank account for the amount that you specify on a given date. In other words, you will log into Minerva and approve a payment to be made. The agreement form can be found here, or on Minerva. Note that the agreement may be cancelled at any time by notifying the Student Accounts Office, either by fax, by telephone or by email.

Guests may also use this method of payment. Please see Guest Access for specific instructions.

The most efficient payment process for an international student to pay their student fees is through Western Union’s Bank to Bank Transfer. This option allows you to pay the Canadian dollar student fees in the currency of your choice.

International students can choose to make a payment to McGill by selecting the Western Union Bank to Bank Transfer for International Students option on the Minerva e-payment options page under the Student Accounts menu. Alternatively, you can click on the Western Union Business Solutions logo on the right-hand side of this webpage. If you choose to proceed, you will be transferred to a secure website where you will receive instructions on how to complete the payment to a local banking institution in your currency of choice.

• After providing your student name and number you will be directed to a web page where you will be able to enter in the Canadian dollar amount you wish to pay to McGill.
• The amount being transferred to McGill should be for tuition, fees and other charges in the student fee account, and should not be sent for living expenses for the student. McGill reserves the right to hold funds sent in excess of tuition and fees for a subsequent term, or return excess funds to the student.
• You will then select your preferred currency from a drop down menu (the list of currencies can be found here: Western Union Currencies List ) . A conversion at a competitive rate of exchange from the Canadian dollar amount will be applied to your chosen currency through the Western Union real-time rate engine. You will have the opportunity to view the payable amount in your local currency before committing to the transaction. To proceed with the transaction simply click OK and you will be presented with banking instructions to make the payment.
• The exchange rate quoted will remain valid for 72 hours from the time you click "submit". The time will be indicated on the payment instruction you receive. During this time you or the payer must take the banking instructions to your bank, who will initiate the transfer of funds through Western Union for credit to McGill University. Western Union must receive your payment within 72 hours of your receipt of the applicable currency quote. In the event Western Union receives your payment after the 72 hour period, Western Union shall use the current exchange rate to convert the currency. On receipt of the funds your student fee account will be credited. While the transfer is in progress your account will continue to show the outstanding amount.

If you have paid your account through Western Union and then canceled your registration, we may ask you for bank account information so that the credit may be returned by wire to the originating country. Wire transfer costs will be deducted from your refund.

Payments from US bank accounts

Once you have the confirmation page from Western Union for the amount to pay in US dollars, you can make the actual payment in the following ways:

You can call or go into your bank and request:

1. An ACH payment. Though an ACH does take 2-3 days longer than a wire its low cost is a key advantage over a wire. Reference information is sometimes included on ACH transactions but that is dependent upon your financial institution or bank. Please note it is very important that the reference number on your payment page is included with your payment.
2. A domestic wire. The advantages of sending a wire is that it is the fastest way to initiate payment and have it arrive the same day. You can also include reference information with your payment so you can ensure that it is applied correctly to your student account. This is a more expensive option than an ACH payment.

For those students who prefer to bank online:

1. Online Banking - When banking online you should go to your banks online ‘Transfer funds’ tab (not bill payment). Once there you should create a beneficiary under the name Western Union with the ABA and account number provided on the confirmation page from Western Union. It can take up to 4 days to verify the instructions, so please take that into consideration when making your first payment. Once the Western Union beneficiary has been confirmed you can initiate a wire or ACH to this account whenever you like.

Payments from international (non-US) bank accounts

To make a payment from an international (non-US) bank account, you will need to make the payment through a wire transfer. If you are making the payment in a country where Western Union has a bank account (you will see this on the confirmation page from Western Union), the wire transfer may be considered a domestic wire, which usually has lower fees associated with it than international wire transfers. Please ensure that the reference number from the Western Union confirmation page is included with your wire transfer.

For more information on Western Union Bank to Bank Transfer for International Students, consult the Western Union brochure or visit the FAQ section on our website.

Students may choose not to use the on-line methods of fee payment described above. Please note, however, that the University is not responsible for mail service delivery. If a payment is received past the fee deadline indicated on your statement due to mail delays, interest and/or a Late Payment Fee will be assessed. Should you need to make additional payments, you can mail it with a copy of your e-bill to:

McGill University — Student Accounts Office
McLennan Library Building, Room MS-55
3415 McTavish Street
Montréal, Québec
H3A 0C8

Cheques, money orders or bank drafts should be made payable to "McGill University" in Canadian funds. To ensure that your account is correctly credited, you must print your family name and McGill ID number on the front of the cheque or money order.

Students should be aware that a cheque that is not drawn from a Canadian bank must be presented by the University to the bank from which it is drawn. This can take two to three months and fees are deemed not to have been paid until the funds have been received by the University from the bank. Payments under $100 will be refused. To avoid this situation, an international draft in Canadian funds drawn from a Canadian bank should be requested from the bank in your own country.

The University policy states that money can be wired to a student’s fee account, but the amount wired cannot exceed the annual charges associated with tuition and ancillary fees. These annual charges are found in university calendars and in the  Tuition and Fees section of this site. Funds received in excess of the amounts listed for a given student will be returned to the sender or held to be applied towards future charges; the student will assume any costs associated with a returned wire. Living and other expenses should be directed to the student’s bank account directly and not through the University.

Students who need to pay the annual fees at the beginning of the academic year in order to prove to immigration that they have sufficient funds to cover their tuition expenses should know that the funds will be deposited into the student fee account in two installments. The first installment will be released to the fee account for the Fall term when the student has registered and allocated to expenses for that term. The second installment will only be released when the assessment of fees for the second term has occurred, typically in early December.

Any balances on the terms that occur because the student is not carrying a full-time load of courses will be refunded to the student, unless the student requests in writing that the refund be issued to a third party. If a student cancels their registration after payment has been received, and has a credit balance, the funds will be returned to the originating bank account by wire transfer.

If you wish to transfer funds by wire transfer to cover registration fees prior to leaving your country, such a transfer can be made.

Your name and student number should be used as the reference. Incoming wires equal to or greater than $1,000.00 are subject to a $10.00 fee deducted by the University’s bank on all payments received from institutions outside of Canada. Additional fees may be imposed by the customer’s bank (the issuing bank). Please check with your bank to learn more about any fees associated with paying by wire transfer. Any additional fees are the responsibility of the client requesting the wire transfer.

If you send a wire transfer regarding either a student account or a sponsor account, please confirm your payment by sending an email to student [dot] accounts [at] mcgill [dot] ca with “Wire Transfer Payment” in the subject line to facilitate the posting of the payment. Please include the following information in your email:

• Student (or Sponsor’s) Name;
• Student (or Sponsor’s) McGill ID;
• $ Value;
• Currency (Canadian / US);
• Date Sent;

The wire payment should be posted to the McGill fee account within 2 business days after McGill’s bank receives the payment. Students should verify the Account Summary by term in Minerva for an up-to-date balance on their fee account.