This is Sauder Real Estate Division’s own AMS/U-Pass FAQ, restated in plain language, plus our critique. Source: professional.sauder.ubc.ca/re_creditprogram/ams-fee.cfm. Always check the due date in your own Workday account.
The process, in one paragraph
Online-only RED students are billed about $278.23 in Term 1 ($86.83 AMS + $191.40 U-Pass) and another $191.40 U-Pass in Term 2. RED still takes course fees in a separate system. A Workday credit cannot pay a RED course. Sauder itself says these charges “may be unexpected.” They are still due.
The only clean U-Pass out is: live outside Metro Vancouver, all courses online, apply to the AMS (not Workday) Sept 8–29, 2026. Live in Metro Vancouver? Online does not matter. You pay. Hardship subsidy is extra paperwork, Sept 8–Oct 13, not guaranteed.
Fees are due Sept 9 (or Oct 7 if Workday bills you in September). Exemption processing is “several weeks.” AMS says they are not responsible for late fees or holds if you wait. So you pay first, then maybe get a Workday credit, then email Enrolment Services and wait 4–6 more weeks for a refund. Card convenience fees are kept.
Two systems, three offices, two exemption forms, overlapping deadlines that do not actually overlap, and a refund that is not a refund until you chase it. Distance learners were not consulted. That is the campaign.
What you are being charged
Q. Why is this in Workday all of a sudden?
A. Starting Winter 2026, AMS fees follow “member groupings.” Online-only students are “online-only active members.” RED students historically were not assessed these. Sauder says that may be unexpected. Payable anyway unless an opt-out, exemption, subsidy, or correction creates a Workday credit.
DLC take: “Unexpected” is not the same as “we asked you.” Workday widened who counts as a student. The bill showed up after the fact.
Q. How much?
A. Annual AMS package $86.83, plus U-Pass $191.40 per term:
- AMS Membership $52.42 / year
- Student Aid Bursary $12.00 / year
- Student Services Fee $5.00 / year
- Climate Action Fee $1.74 / year
- CiTR $7.12 / year
- Ubyssey $8.55 / year
- U-Pass BC $191.40 / academic term
Term 1 ≈ $278.23. Term 2 adds another $191.40 U-Pass.
Q. Did RED registration change?
A. No. Register and pay RED courses in the RED system. Workday is only for these UBC/AMS fees. Do not register RED courses in Workday unless RED tells you to.
DLC take: Two ledgers. A credit in one cannot pay the other. You will get this wrong if you assume UBC is one university.
Deadlines, holds, and the “pay first” trap
Q. When is Term 1 due?
A. Sept 9, 2026 if the fees hit before Sept 1. If Workday assesses them Sept 1–30, they are due Oct 7. Follow the date beside the charge in Workday. Assessments update overnight after RED registration.
Q. What if I do not pay?
A. $35 processing fee, interest at prime + 6% per year, financial hold. Hold can block new registration, waitlists, transcripts, parchments, completion letters. Unpaid past session end may go to collections. You are not auto-dropped from a current class. RED is “still determining” whether a Workday hold also locks RED registration. Do not assume it will not.
Q. Can I wait to pay until my exemption is approved?
A. AMS processing may take several weeks. AMS is not responsible for late fees or holds if you leave the balance unpaid. If approved after you pay, the amount becomes a Workday credit.
DLC take: You must pay a fee you may later be exempt from, or risk a hold, because their review is slower than their deadline. That is the design.
U-Pass exemption
Q. Who qualifies for the AMS online-student exemption?
A. Live outside Metro Vancouver during the term, and all courses online / not in person at Vancouver. AMS decides. Apply to AMS, not Workday, Sept 8–29, 2026 for Term 1. Apply again for Term 2 when that form opens. Living in Metro Vancouver (Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Delta, Langley, White Rock, etc.) and studying online does not exempt you.
Q. I have a car / I will not use transit.
A. Not an exemption.
Q. Regular UBC exemption?
A. Separate, narrower: another non-transferable transit pass, a U-Pass from another Metro Vancouver school, or a qualifying disability. Term 1 Workday deadline Sept 21, 2026 (Create Request → U-Pass).
Q. Do I need a letter from RED?
A. Not for the AMS online-student route, according to current public guidance.
Q. Hardship subsidy?
A. AMS U-Pass Financial Hardship Subsidy, Sept 8–Oct 13, 2026. Not guaranteed.
Q. Should I load the pass on a Compass Card while I apply?
A. No. If a month is already loaded, exemption may only cover remaining months.
DLC take: Distance learners outside the region get a 21-day AMS form. Distance learners inside the region get a $191.40/term transit pass for a campus they do not attend. Online is not the criterion. Your postal code is.
The $15.67 opt-out
Q. What can I actually opt out of?
A. CiTR $7.12 + Ubyssey $8.55 = $15.67. Not the $52.42 membership. Not U-Pass.
Q. How?
A. Confirm the fees in Workday, pay them, then AMS digital opt-out Sept 8–29, 2026. Credit appears in Workday if approved. If you already opted out in Term 1, do not repeat in Term 2. First-time Term 2 assessment: Jan 5–19, 2027. A later Workday due date does not extend the AMS window. If you are billed after the window, there is no published extension. Contact AMS.
DLC take: You may opt out of the student paper and the campus radio station. You may not opt out of AMS membership as an online-only student who never uses the building.
Refunds (the long way around)
Q. After an exemption or opt-out is approved?
A. Credit in Workday, not in RED. That credit cannot pay a future RED course. Set up Student Refund direct deposit (Canadian account; no void cheque required). Then contact Enrolment Services. Allow 4–6 weeks. Credit-card payments often refund to the card. The card convenience fee is kept. Do not enter a foreign bank in the Canadian direct-deposit fields.
DLC take: Pay now. Wait weeks for AMS. Wait more weeks for Enrolment Services. Keep the convenience fee. Two systems so a “refund” never automatically returns to where the tuition actually lives.
Tax and contacts
UBC’s T2202 list does not include AMS membership, U-Pass, CiTR, or Ubyssey. The Workday T2202 is the official document. RED will not give tax advice.
- Workday balance, hold, credit, refund: UBC Enrolment Services
- AMS online-student U-Pass exemption: avpexternal@ams.ubc.ca
- Regular UBC U-Pass exemption: upass.exemptions@ubc.ca
- AMS opt-outs / hardship subsidy: avpfunds@ams.ubc.ca
- RED courses: Real Estate Programs
If you were billed as an online-only student without consultation, send a redacted Workday screenshot.