A period is a portion of an academic year during which specific courses are held. At York University, a period is a distinct time unit from a term.

Periods are used for reporting purposes, including government reporting. Relevant periods and associated dates are confirmed at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Courses are tied to respective periods using period codes. For each academic year, these codes are associated with the start, end, and other dates of a period. These dates may coincide with or differ from sessional dates or term dates.

Some examples of period codes include F, Y, W, SU, S1 and S2. Though period codes like F and W are closely associated with terms or sessions they refer to periods with non-administrative constituents such as students or faculty.

There are additional codes used for periods that fall outside these examples. Faculties can request certain codes based on the needs of their courses.