The Student Wellness Centre is the place on campus to address your wellness needs. The SWC provides a range of counselling options, medical services and wellness programs. 

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) provides academic accommodation assistance and related supports to students with disabilities at McMaster. SAS is available to assist students transitioning from high school, other post secondary institutions, undergraduate, continuing and graduate students.

No issues are too big or small. Request support for depression, anxiety, grief, relationship problems, adjusting to life in a new country, addictions, mild substance abuse, educational conflict, disordered eating, and more.

Though Empower Me, counselors are completely qualified to support students in crisis. What’s great about Empower Me is that you don’t need to be in crisis in order to take advantage of their services. You could speak to a life coach about subjects like personal performance, well-being and growth, career, relationships, and finances. It is available for all graduate students who are currently located within Canada.

Resident Affairs provides confidential support for all residents and fellows, and assists Learners as they manage issues with or within their program, hospital, university or home. They will act as an advocate, and will support or represent the Learner requiring work place accommodations or further support.

The Resident Affairs Office is confidential, functioning at an arm’s length to the PGME office, Program Directors, and hospital administration. Learners may contact the office at any time.

Wellbeing is foundational to meeting your academic goals while at McMaster and we are here to help. It is normal to have difficulty with adjustment. Whether you are far away from your home community, or you are feeling alone within the large university campus, or your course work has you feeling overwhelmed and stressed, we want you to know that what you are feeling is valid. In addition to school-related stress, many students may be experiencing other personal and/or mental health struggles during their time here. At Indigenous Student Services, we normalize the difficulties that university life can bring and encourage students to put their wellbeing first.

Indigenous Student Services has a wellness counsellor, Brittany Vincze. Brittany has Haudenosaunee (Cayuga) and settler ancestry and has resided in the Hamilton area for majority of her life.

Brittany’s services include:

• Individual counselling/psychotherapy sessions
• Therapeutic groups
• Wellness workshops
• Referrals to other resources

Maccess is a peer support, advocacy, and community centre for students who experience disability, chronic illness, mental health concerns, or inaccessibility. Services are available for any McMaster student who experiences (or identifies as) any of the following:

• Disability/disabled
• Chronic illness or health conditions
• Madness, mental health concerns, or mental illness
• Neurodivergence/neurodiversity
• Learning disability
• Deaf or hard of hearing
• Sensory impairment
• Navigating inaccessibility or accessing accommodations
• Other experiences/identities that are part of the larger Disability Justice movement

Maccess aims to build and maintain a campus that celebrates, advocates, and ensures inclusiveness in the area of disability. We provide programming and events in an effort to establish a sense of community for those that self-identify as having disabilities or as disabled. In addition, Maccess strives to advocate on the behalf of students in a proactive and affirmative fashion and provide educational programming on and opportunities to learn about critical disability studies.

The Advisor, Professionalism and Faculty Lead are available to all Faculty of Health Sciences learners, staff, and faculty members. Their focus is to attend to issues of professionalism in an objective, impartial, empathetic and confidential manner. They can provide a listening ear, advice, options and advocacy.

Students, staff and faculty can approach the FHS Professionalism team in confidence or even anonymously.

Confidentiality will be guaranteed unless there is disclosure of imminent harm to one’s self, to others, or harm to a minor.

Consultation and Advice

The Advisor, Professionalism has expertise and applied knowledge in the areas of human rights, discrimination and harassment laws, particularly as they relate to complex issues in the academic and clinical settings. The Advisor, Professionalism and Faculty Lead are committed to the development of an environment conducive to the professional development and optimal functioning of learners, trainees, fellows, and faculty members in FHS.

Mediation / Resolution

As a resource to the faculty leadership, the Advisor, Professionalism will have a sound understanding of the clinical environment and linkages with the various hospital processes and personnel. This enables the Advisor, Professionalism to provide an informal, voluntary, remedial conflict resolution process under appropriate McMaster University policies.

One of the most empowering things you can do as a student is take control of your financial decision-making and wellness. That’s where we can help. Mac’s Money Centre is a resource available to all students.

Information on how to recognize, respond and refer within the McMaster environment in terms of issues relating to discrimination and harassment.  

To learn more, visit here: https://secretariat.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/Discrimination-and-Harassment-Policy.pdf

PCC is a student-run service provided by the MSU that aims to challenge oppressive social attitudes and norms, patriarchy, homo/trans/bi/lesbophobia, and the like, at the systemic level.

PCC provides a contact point for McMaster students that may identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or any of the other diverse identities that make up our community. We offer educational programming and access to resources of interest, as well as peer support and a physical space for students to meet and socialize with each other. As advocates for gender & sexual diversity, the PCC’s mandate upholds that 2SLGBTQ+ students are entitled to a safe and supportive campus, absent of homophobia and transphobia, where the expression of one’s gender & sexual identity is welcomed and respected.

The PCC is happy to offer a Peer Support Warm-line (for non-crisis support) offered via tawk.to. You can reach out to chat with one of the volunteers Monday-Friday from 12-3pm and 6-9pm.

If you would prefer to speak over the phone, and are 26 years old or younger,  you can call the LGBT Youthline at 1-800-268-9688 or 416-962-9688 or text them at 647-694-4275, Sunday to Friday between 4pm and 9:30pm.

The Student Health Education Centre (SHEC) is a peer-run health promotion, education, and referral service for McMaster University students. SHEC focuses on engaging with students about health-related issues through peer support, events, and campaigns. 

The free services SHEC offers include:

• Confidential peer support
• Anonymous and confidential pregnancy testing
• Health supplies including external condoms, oral dams, lubricant, internal condoms, finger cots, menstrual products (pads, tampons with applicators, tampons without applicators), and band-aids
• Referrals on- and off-campus
• Lending library and health-related pamphlets
• Private breastfeeding space, with diapers, a bottle warmer, baby wipes, nursing pads, baby lotion, baby wipes, and rash cream
• Artificial sunlight lamp

The UGME program at McMaster University is known worldwide for its innovative approach to medical education, including problem-based learning, early clinical exposure, and three-year curriculum delivered within a distributed medical education model. Our reach and impact are impressive, with over 4,000 faculty spread across two distributed campuses and four clinical education campuses in Southwestern Ontario.

WeSpeakStudent is the one stop location for fulltime undergraduate student health plans (part-time students can opt out of the program if they wish). This includes 80% of prescription drugs & 80% dental.

WeConnect Student Assistance Program (SAP) provides eligible students and their dependents with short-term therapy, lifestyle counselling, courses, tools, and events to improve mental and physical health. We connect is available via phone, email. chat, SMS, Snapclarity App.

• Access is available 24/7 by phone or virtual resources, worldwide
• Care is immediate by connecting with the intake team and payment for counselling is not required
• Trained clinical professionals
• Managing change/transitions
• Time management and organization
• Career development
• Student-life balance
• Personal growth and development
• Dependent Care
• Legal and Financial Support
• Daily Living / Life Coaching
• Mindfulness / Wellness Coaching

The MSU Women & Gender Equity Network (WGEN) is a peer support driven service that caters to women, trans folk, people who identify outside the gender binary, gender non-conforming folk and all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence from all gender identities. It acts as a place for people to go and feel safe, talk about articles and issues in the media, make friends, and bond through common experiences. The space also has a library with a number of resources available for the McMaster community to use.

Along with facilitating a safe(r) space, WGEN holds social events to build community, workshops to educate all folks, and campaigns to advocate and educate on behalf of and with the groups they were created to support.

The SSCM provides students in distress with an additional layer of support through case management services. We also offer a case manager who solely provides support to students in residence. Case managers are not counsellors or therapists; rather, the role of the case manager is to enhance the conditions and likelihood of students’ personal, emotional, social and academic success. With the opportunity to develop close helping relationships with students, case managers support and advocate for students and help them build the skills they need to succeed.

The SSCM has two primary, often-intersecting areas of focus:

1. Administering the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (the Code); and
2. Providing support to students through Case Management services.

In addition, the SSCM is one of the University’s four Intake Offices to receive and investigate complaints under McMaster’s Sexual Violence Policy (SVP) and Discrimination and Harassment Policy (D&H) – in instances where the respondent is a student.

The President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community (PACBIC) aims to identify and anticipate issues affecting equity-seeking communities both within the University and relevant to those seeking access to the University, and to advise the President on such issues.

PACBIC is made up of organizational members who identify and anticipate issues affecting equity-seeking communities (including but not limited to First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons, members of racialized communities, newcomers and refugees, members of diverse faith communities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ-identified individuals, and women) both within the University and relevant to those seeking access to the University, and advise the President on such issues.

Working Groups:

• Priorities and Planning
• Disability, Inclusion, Madness, Accessibility, Neurodiversity (DIMAND)
• First Nation, Métis and Inuit Priorities (FNMI)
• Gender and Sexuality
• Interfaith
• Race, Racialization, and Racism

The Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) is a central resource where expertise is proactively drawn upon by administrators, faculty, staff, and students: to advance unit-specific and institutional equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility goals; to enact inclusive excellence principles; and to establish respectful living, learning, and working environments that are free from harassment and discrimination, and sexual violence including through timely and procedurally fair investigative and alternative dispute resolution processes.

The Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) promotes and supports institution-wide commitments to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and principles of inclusive excellence, to foster a campus culture and community that respect the human rights, integrity and dignity of all community members.

Programs & Services

• Human Rights & Dispute Resolution – provides confidential complaint resolution according to the policies on Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Violence.
• Inclusion & Anti-Racism Education – provides educational opportunities related to harassment, discrimination, anti-oppression, accessibility, accommodation, and other human rights-related issues.
• Accessibility Program – provides consultation and advice on the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to accessibility within the University’s systems, structures and policies.
• Sexual Violence & Prevention Response (SVPRO) – provides inclusive and trauma informed response; prevention education and response training; community consultation and referral.