Meal Plan funds are accepted at all restaurants serving prepared meals on the Keele and Glendon campuses, providing a wide variety of food options to choose from.
The Taxable Plan is a separate plan that is required for students living in traditional dorm rooms. These funds can be used to purchase taxable food items (including snacks) at on- and off-campus eateries and vending machines that accept YU-card.
Flex dollars are accepted at locations across campus and can be used to pay for food and snacks at campus eateries, books and supplies at the York University Bookstore, printing and photocopying, residence laundry machines, and goods and services at participating off-campus merchants. Flex dollars do not expire and are refundable upon request.
Choosing the right plan depends on your eating habits and whether you plan to spend most days on campus or go home on weekends or for extended periods of time. Some students find that the minimum plan meets their needs, while others devour the largest plan and have to top up their balance. Use the sample meal prices on our web site to help calculate your average daily budget, taking into consideration how many meals or snacks you like to have during a typical day, and how many days during the term you plan to be on campus.
Please note that the Bronze Plan is not designed to provide three meals per day every day. Students who intend to eat the majority of their meals on campus are encouraged to consider the Silver, Gold or Platinum plans.
The meal plan uses a declining balance system similar to your debit card. Each purchase you make for a meal, is deducted from the balance on your meal plan account. The difference between the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Convenience plan options is the dollar value loaded to your account.
In order to save the HST, you must have a valid Tax Exemption sticker on the back of your YU-card. Visit the YU-card Office as soon as you move in to residence to obtain the sticker. Without the sticker, you will be charged tax on your purchases and refunds on the tax are not possible.
The tax exempt Meal Plan dollars can be used to purchase meals on campus. Taxable snack items such as carbonated beverages, granola bars, frozen yogurt, pastries and confectionery items can only be purchased with the Taxable Plan or Flex dollars, unless you purchase these items as part of a prepared meal. In order to maximize your savings and the use of your Meal Plan funds, purchase beverages and desserts as part of your meal.
The following items are not, in and of themselves, considered a meal by the Canada Revenue Agency and cannot be purchased with Meal Plan funds, unless they are purchased as part of a meal:
carbonated beverages;
non-carbonated fruit juice beverages or fruit flavoured beverages, other than milk-based beverages, that contain less than 25% by volume of
(i) a natural fruit juice or combination of natural fruit juices, or
(ii) a natural fruit juice or combination of natural fruit juices that have been reconstituted into the original state, or goods that, when added to water, produce a beverage in this paragraph:
candies, confectionery that may be classed as candy, or any goods sold as candies, such as candy floss, chewing gum and chocolate, whether naturally or artificially sweetened, and including fruits, seeds, nuts and popcorn when they are coated or treated with candy, chocolate, honey, molasses, sugar, syrup or artificial sweeteners;
chips, crisps, puffs, curls or sticks (such as potato chips, cheese puffs, potato sticks, bacon crisps and cheese curls), other similar snack foods or popcorn and brittle pretzels, but not including any product that is sold primarily as a breakfast cereal;
salted nuts or salted seeds;
granola products, but not including any product that is sold primarily as a breakfast cereal;
snack mixtures that contain cereals, nuts, seeds, dried fruit or any other edible product, but not including any mixture that is sold primarily as a breakfast cereal;
ice lollies, juice bars, flavoured, coloured or sweetened ice waters, or similar products, whether frozen or not;
ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, frozen yoghurt or frozen pudding, non-dairy substitutes for any of the foregoing, or any product that contains any of the foregoing, when packaged or sold in single servings;
fruit bars, rolls or drops or similar fruit-based snack foods;
cakes, muffins, pies, pastries, tarts, cookies, doughnuts, brownies, croissants with sweetened filling or coating, or similar products […] but not including bread products, such as bagels, English muffins, croissants or bread rolls, without sweetened filling or coating;
beverages (other than unflavoured milk) or pudding, including flavoured gelatin, mousse, flavoured whipped dessert product or any other products similar to pudding
beverages dispensed at the place where they are sold.
Funds remaining in the Meal Plan account will expire at the end of the plan term, while funds remaining in the Meal Plan Plus account will be transferred to a Meal Plan Taxable account. The taxable account allows unspent Meal Plan Plus dollars to be used in subsequent years to purchase food on a taxable basis if you remain enrolled at York U. There is a $50 Administration Fee for the transfer of funds over to the taxable account. Unspent Meal Plan Taxable dollars will expire if you cease to be enrolled at York. Meal Plan, Meal Plan Plus and Meal Plan Taxable dollars are non-refundable and cannot be transferred to the Flex account. See Terms and Conditions for details.
Meal Plan dollars are non-refundable.
You can transfer funds into your Meal Plan account if you need to top it up; however you cannot transfer funds out of your Meal Plan account. Please visit the the YU-card Office to load up any of your meal plan accounts.
You can add more money to your Meal Plan at the YU-card Office.
Of course! Visit the YU-card Office if you want to switch to a different plan.
You can check your account balances online in real time using the eAccounts mobile app.
Tax regulations stipulate that Meal Plans are for your personal use only.
If you lose your YU-card, you should use the eAccounts mobile app to freeze your card until you can obtain a replacement. You can obtain a replacement card from the YU-card Office.
It sure is! Having a Meal Plan can save you time and money -- which means more time for studying and less time shopping, cooking and washing dishes. In addition to our regular Meal Plans, students living in Suite/Apartment accommodations may purchase the smaller Convenience Plan which provides up to $247 in HST savings on your meal purchases.
If you spend more than $50/week on food on campus, the Convenience Plan will enable you to save on taxes, transaction fees and time. It's like getting up to $247 in free food! Contact the YU-card Office for more information.