At the end of each academic year, students using UTSG’s meal plans may find themselves in a tricky situation — they have too much money left on their plan to use up before the end of the year. These circumstances can often result in students doing all they can to use up the points, from buying more convenience items to paying for friends’ meals.

Prices for meal plans on campus can be higher than $7,000 at some residences. Given this large expense, it’s natural for students to wonder what happens to their leftover balances. Is it possible for them to receive a refund on unused dollars? The Varsity looked into UTSG’s different meal plans offered to students across colleges and residences to find out. 

Meal plans on campus

All campus residences — except for Woodsworth and Innis Colleges — mandate their students to purchase meal plans This includes residences operated by the three federated colleges: Trinity College, St. Michael’s College, and Victoria College. 

Victoria College operates on a constrained meal swipe system, where one swipe equates to one meal in the college’s dining hall. St. Michael’s College uses an all-you-can-eat system, where students can have their meals during set hours in the dining commons for either five days of the week or all seven days of the week. Trinity College, University College (UC), and Knox College all make use of a declining balance system, where the cost of a student’s purchases at their college’s food facilities is deducted each time they use their TCard.

Students residing at New College, CampusOne, or the Chestnut Residence must purchase a plan from U of T Food Services. A portion of funds is dedicated for use at each residence’s dining commons, while the remaining funds are allocated as ‘Campus Flex Dollars’ — which can be used to purchase food, beverage, and other items at participating Food Services locations across campus, like the food halls at Robarts Library or the Medical Sciences Building — and as TBucks, which can be used to pay for textbooks or printing.

Commuter students and students living in residences without a dining hall can also purchase meal plans for themselves. U of T Food Services offers a Commuter Plan where students are provided with funds to make purchases at the dining halls in CampusOne, Chestnut, and New College residences or at any of the other campus vendors. These commuter options are also provided with TBucks included in the cost of purchasing this plan. Individual colleges also may provide their own version of commuter meal plans. 

What happens to my leftover balances?

Typically, meal plan swipes or dollars dedicated to being used at a residence’s dining hall cannot be carried over to the next year and are not refundable. 

At Chestnut Residence, for the cheaper two of its three offered meal plans, students are allocated a given number of entry swipes per week to access the dining hall. These swipes expire if students don’t use them by the end of the week. At CampusOne — where students are provided with meal plan dollars that they can only use at the CampusOne dining hall — any leftover funds at the end of the year are neither refundable nor can they be carried over. 

Similar rules are in place at dining halls that are not operated by U of T Food Services. At UC, any unused dollars cannot be transferred or refunded. 

Mila Bhaloo, a third-year UC student studying cognitive science, computer science, and statistics, wrote to The Varsity in an email, “I had around $800 left on the plan that I couldn’t get reimbursed or carry over to the next year. To try and use up the remaining balance, I stocked up on drinks and took them home since I live in the city. While the meal plan itself was convenient, it was frustrating to have so much unused money go to waste.”

For some meal plans, unused funds can carry over into the next year. For students living at Chestnut and New College who are under the U of T Food Services’ meal plans, unused dining hall funds at the end of the year are converted to Campus Flex Dollars.

At Victoria College, student meal plans also provide a set amount of ‘Vic Dollars’ for students to use in addition to their meal swipes. Leftover dollars can be used up to one year after they were purchased. 

Ekaterina Brechko, a third-year at Victoria College studying computer science, mathematics, and art history, wrote in an email to The Varsity that she carried over some Vic Dollars she had left over after her first year on residence. She wrote that she “decided [she] wanted to keep some for when I moved off campus.”

Justin Liou, a second-year political science, French languages and linguistics, and European affairs student at Victoria College, also had leftover meals and Vic Dollars after his first year. He wrote to The Varsity that he “would be happier if there was another meal option with even fewer meals than any currently offered plans.” 

In certain cases, students can also request refunds on leftover balances. Students can get a refund on their ‘Campus Flex Dollars’ provided on the plans by U of T Food Services if they withdraw from U of T or complete their degree. However, they will incur a $50 administration fee — balances below this amount won’t be refunded.

When asked about policies on leftover balances on meal plans, a spokesperson from the university wrote to The Varsity that “meal plan policies are communicated to students prior to the residence application process and throughout the year. Students can contact [U of T] Food Services or their residence office at any time to discuss their plan and specific circumstances.”