Travel Guidelines

Key Points

  • Your travel option is based on your location in September. We will only provide reimbursements if your RSVP indicates that you are not walking or taking a bus provided for free by Hack the North.
  • For all international hackers with the exception of U.S. citizens, begin your visa application immediately after receiving your offer. You can find more information about visas in the visa section of this page.
  • If any of your travel plans have changed, email us at travel@hackthenorth.com immediately.

Reimbursement Policy

  • If your transportation requires advance purchase, it must be purchased by the travel RSVP deadline of August 31 (unless you need to apply for a visa). There is a separate travel RSVP opening in late August.
    • Once you have booked your transportation, we will not reimburse any changed fees.
  • In order to receive your reimbursement, upload all receipts on your RSVP dashboard by your RSVP deadline if you are taking a flight but do not require a visa.
  • Reimbursement timelines based on method of payment:
    • PayPal - up to 12 weeks after the event
    • Interac e-Transfer - up to 12 weeks after the event

Please note that you must be in attendance for the duration of the event and submit a project at Hack the North 2024 in order to receive your travel reimbursement. We reserve the right to withhold your reimbursement if evidence exists that you were not present for the majority of the weekend.

Flights

  • Book your flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
    • If you find that it is cheaper to fly to another location and travel the rest of the way by other means (i.e. fly to Ottawa and take a Hack the North bus from there), email us at travel@hackthenorth.com.
  • If it’s cheaper to fly to the Waterloo Airport using Flair Airlines, please contact travel@hackthenorth.com.

Flight timing

  • Arrive no later than 6:00 PM on Friday, September 13.
  • Leave no earlier than 7:00 PM on Sunday, September 15 (airport shuttles will be leaving at 4:00 PM from Waterloo on Sunday).
    • For those who have extenuating circumstances and need to have flights earlier than 7pm, we will provide a bus leaving earlier during the day, but space will be limited so please aim to book return flights for 7pm or later.
  • We will only be providing accommodations during the event. If you arrive before September 13 or leave after September 15, you will be responsible for your own accommodations.
  • Traveling from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Waterloo
    • We will provide free shuttles on Friday, September 13 that depart periodically from Toronto Pearson International Airport from 4pm until 8pm.
  • Traveling from Waterloo to Toronto Pearson International Airport
    • We will provide free shuttles on Sunday, September 15 that depart from Waterloo at 4:00 PM and arrive at Toronto Pearson International Airport at around 6:00 PM.
    • If you book an earlier flight, you will be responsible for your own transportation.
    • Please consider possible traffic delays on the way to the airport when booking your return flight.
  • Your reimbursement amount
    • If your flight cost is below the reimbursement amount shown on your dashboard, we will reimburse you only for the flight cost.
  • Reimbursement restrictions
    • In general, we will not reimburse flights that arrive at Toronto Pearson International Airport before September 8 or that leave Toronto Pearson International Airport after September 20. If you have outstanding circumstances, please email travel@hackthenorth.com and we’ll see what we can do.
    • We will not reimburse direct flights from locations that are reasonably close to a provided Hack the North bus location.
  • Airport customs
    • If you are going to travel with hardware through carry-on luggage, be sure to declare it to Customs officers at the border or at the airport!

Driving

  • We will not be reimbursing for gas or parking costs, but there are free parking locations within walking distance from campus. Please email travel@hackthenorth.com for parking locations.
  • If possible, please consider traveling by car with a group of fellow participants.
  • Please aim to arrive in Waterloo by Friday, September 13 at 7:00 PM EDT to make it in time for registration and opening ceremonies.

Hack the North Buses

  • We are anticipating that we will be sending buses, free of cost, to the following locations:
    • University of Toronto, St. George Campus
    • Queen’s University
    • Western University
    • University of Ottawa
    • University of Windsor
    • University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (NEW ROUTE for 2024!)
  • If you would like to travel on one of these buses but have not been assigned to this route on your RSVP, please email us at travel@hackthenorth.com.

Other

  • If you are not within a reasonable distance of one of our bus pickup locations and are not taking a flight, you may still be reimbursed for your transportation.
  • Please make sure you have proof of payment that you can send to us.
  • Please aim to arrive in Waterloo by Friday, September 13 at 7:00 PM EDT to make it in time for registration and opening ceremonies.

Travel Restrictions

Entry requirements

  • Currently, there are no travel restrictions for entering Canada. Should this change, we will let everyone know.
  • For the most up to date information about travel restrictions to enter Canada, visit https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid

Returning to your country of residence

  • There may be some countries that have travel restrictions in place. You are responsible for having the proper documents and materials to re-enter your country of residence.

Visa

Flight Websites

Try searching the following websites when looking for flights ✈️

Travel FAQ

What if I can’t get my visa in time?

If you feel like you may not get your visa application approved in time, please email us at travel@hackthenorth.com and we will do our best to help.

What if I can’t make it to Hack the North and already bought travel tickets?

We will not be reimbursing flights for hackers who are not in attendance during the hackathon weekend. Please consider this when purchasing tickets.

Why is my flight reimbursement amount lower than my actual flight cost?

In order to maintain fairness for all hackers, we can only guarantee partial reimbursements of flights for all hackers. Your calculated reimbursement amount can be found on the travel dashboard.

Which bus should I take if they depart at the same time?

If your return bus shares the same departure time and return location as others, please just arrive at your departure location before the departure time and a bus coordinator will make sure you get on the correct bus.

Why haven’t I received any busing details yet?

We will finalize busing details, including locations and times, a few weeks prior to the event. In the meantime, if you require busing, please ensure that your bus route registration is confirmed on the travel dashboard; this will ensure you receive an email with all the busing details for your itinerary.

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Did we miss anything?

Reach out to us at 

travel@hackthenorth.com  😊