First year university students can expect to see different ways to experience Frosh events over the weekend and next week since the pandemic means traditional activities such as parties and pub crawls won't be happening.
Both Concordia and McGill Universities are moving Frosh and Orientation activities online - Concordia said that dorms are temporarily closed with restricted access to the campus while McGill said organizers are discouraging in-person activities including unsanctioned parties.
"The health and safety of our students and staff is the guiding principle in all of our planning for the new academic year. Our mission is to provide students the safest and best experience possible despite the current global pandemic," said McGill in a statement.
"Everyone has a personal and collective responsibility in the pandemic." said Concordia's statement.
Saqlane Mehdi, events coordinator for the Concordia Student Exchange Association said they've had to be creative with their activities due to COVID.
"It has had a lot of impact on Frosh because usually Frosh means coming together in person, having a lot of fun but right now since the pandemic, you can't be together and meeting friends online and making friends online is quite difficult," said Medhi in an interview with CJAD 800.
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations at Concordia has organized online events such as bingo and a seminar on how to succeed in online classes. Events for McGill Education students include online yoga and cooking classes.
Mehdi said it's a challenge but they're up to it - organizing online games, zumba and scavenger hunts. And the response has been mostly positive.
"Most of the people understand the severity of the situation because if we still keep partying then things are not going to get better, it's only going to get worse, so thankfully people have been cooperating with us," said Mehdi.
"It's a little bit new, but we're getting there. It'll be fun."