The Residence Meal Plan is an integral component of living in any of the McMaster University residences and all students living in residence must purchase a mandatory meal plan.

Residence meal plans are specifically designed for your personal use. When living in a traditional residence, you must purchase a meal plan from the Traditional meal plans. Students living in Bates and the Mary E. Keyes Residence must purchase a meal plan from either Traditional or Apartment-Style meal plans – see Residence Meal Plan Details for meal plan specifics.

If you select an Apartment-Style meal plan and receive a room in traditional residence, your meal plan will be changed to the corresponding size meal plan from the Traditional meal plan group. Since all residence students are required to purchase a mandatory meal plan, students who do not make a selection will be automatically allocated a ‘C’ level meal plan from their mandatory group. Set up of the Residence Meal Plan account is considered an acceptance of all the terms and conditions of the Residence Meal Plan Policy.

The BASIC portion of the Residence Meal Plan is non-taxable, saving you the sales tax (up to 13%) on your food purchases on campus.  As it is a non-taxable plan, the BASIC account is mandatory and non-refundable under McMaster University Residence Meal Plan Policy and Canada Revenue Agency tax regulations (except on a prorated basis upon withdrawal from residence, subject to a withdrawal fee of $50). Any unspent BASIC meal account funds, not including the pre-paid overhead, will be carried forward at the end of the Winter term with 100% of the purchase price coming from the Basic account. These carry-forward funds remain non-taxable and will expire at the end of enrollment at McMaster University.

A FLEX account is available, which is an optional and refundable portion of the Residence Meal Plan and it is initially set at $0 value. You may add funds when the BASIC account is exhausted and you still want to benefit from the non-taxable food purchases at the Hospitality Services dining locations on campus.

The RETAIL OPERATIONS account is a fully taxable and fully refundable portion of your meal plan and it can be used to purchase confectionery (eg. chocolate bars, candy) and non-food items (eg. personal grooming products, convenience items) at Hospitality Services facilities or to dine at participating Off-Campus Vendor locations.

Any time prior to the end of the Winter term, you may add monies to your FLEX account (if BASIC is exhausted) and/or your RETAIL OPERATIONS account, as well as transfer monies between the two accounts. All purchases made from the RETAIL OPERATIONS account will be subject to the appropriate taxes. Unused funds in the FLEX and RETAIL OPERATIONS accounts are carried forward at the end of the Winter term or can be refunded upon a written request to the Mac Express Centre.

You can make changes to your initial Meal Plan Selection through the Housing Application Portal. After their stated deadline date, any meal plan change requests should be submitted in writing to the Mac Express Centre at express@mcmaster.ca. The deadline for all meal plan change requests to Mac Express is August 8, 2023.

The BASIC meal account consists of an overhead portion to cover the costs of operating the residence dining halls. The non-refundable, non-prorated overhead portion of 50% of your BASIC meal account will be automatically set aside at the beginning of the school year; however, with every food purchase made at Hospitality Services locations, 50% of the price will be taken from your BASIC account and 50% will be taken from the overhead account in order for you to receive the full value of your meal plan. Any remaining overhead funds are non-refundable and will not carry forward at the end of the Winter term.

Information regarding fee payments and arrangements will be included in your registration package. Fee payments or payment arrangements for your Residence Meal Plan should be made to/with Student Accounts and Cashiers.

Terms and Conditions

1. Residence Meal Plan is an integral component of living in any of the McMaster University residences and all students living in residence must purchase a mandatory meal plan – there are no exemptions.
2. Students living in traditional residence must select one of the Traditional meal plans. Students living in apartment-style residence (Bates and Mary E. Keyes) must select one of either the Traditional, or Apartment-Style meal plans.  If you select an Apartment-Style meal plan and you receive a room in traditional residence, your meal plan will be changed to the corresponding size meal plan from the Traditional meal plan group.
3. Students who do not make a selection will be allocated a ‘C’ level Meal Plan from the applicable mandatory group. Set up of the Residence Meal Plan account is automatically considered an acceptance of all the terms and conditions of the Residence Meal Plan Policy.
4. Once you select and purchase a residence meal plan, there is no cancellation as long as you are still living in any McMaster University residence.
5. Any student with special dietary needs due to serious illness (e.g. Celiac disease, anaphylactic allergies) or religious restrictions must contact Hospitality Services for confirmation that his/her needs can be met before making a decision on applying for McMaster Residence.
6. Residence Meal Plans are specifically designed for your personal use only. Residence students are given a tax-exempt status on their Basic and Flex portions of the Residence Meal Plan. Under government tax regulations, food purchases made at Hospitality Services campus locations from the Basic and/or Flex portion of the Residence Meal Plan will be considered tax-exempt purchases.
7. To purchase confectionary (e.g. chocolate bars, candy) and non-food items (e.g. personal grooming items, convenience items etc.) or to make purchases at Off-Campus Vendors you need to utilize your Retail Operations account. All meal plans come with a refundable set amount in your Retail Operations account.
8. All purchases from the Retail Operations account will be subject to the appropriate taxes.
9. You can add monies to your Retail Operations account any time during the Fall and Winter terms upon a written request to the Mac Express Centre. Retail Operations monies are fully refundable or may be carried over to the next year.
10. The cost of each Residence Meal Plan includes a $50 fixed, non-refundable administration charge.
11. A non-refundable capital improvement charge is deducted from the Basic meal account at the beginning of the academic year in the amount of $175 for both Traditional and Apartment-Style meal plans.
12. The Basic meal account consists of an overhead portion to cover the costs of operating the residence dining halls. The non-refundable, non-prorated overhead portion of 50% of your Basic meal account will automatically be set aside at the beginning of the school year; however, with every food purchase made at Hospitality Services locations, 50% of the price will be taken from your Basic account and 50% will be taken from the overhead account in order for you to receive the full value of your meal plan.
13. Basic funds of the Residence Meal Plans are non-taxable, under the condition that a minimum number of meals is provided as per the Canada Revenue Agency guidelines. Accordingly, in order to maintain that tax exempt status, the Basic account is mandatory and non-refundable under McMaster University Residence Meal Plan Policy (except on a prorated basis upon withdrawal from residence, subject to a withdrawal fee of $50).  Any unused Basic meal account funds, not including the overhead portion, will be carried forward at the end of the Winter term with 100% of the purchase price coming from the Basic account.  Carried-over funds remain non-taxable and will expire at the end of enrollment at McMaster University.
14. Any student found guilty of fraudulent use of a Mac Express account, removal of any product from food facilities without payment, consumption of food prior to payment, will be issued a $25 misuse fine.

Two types of meal plans exist. Traditional (Trad) Meal Plans are available to all residences. Apartment (Apt) Meal Plans are only available for apartment-style residences (Bates and Mary E Keyes).

TRADITIONAL MEAL PLANS (Available to All Residence Students)

APARTMENT MEAL PLANS (Available to Bates and Mary E. Keyes Residence Students Only)

Note: Monies can be transferred between FLEX and RETAIL OPERATIONS accounts upon written request to Mac Express Office (Commons Building 115).

Since all residence students are required to purchase a mandatory meal plan, students who do not make a selection will be automatically allocated a C meal plan from their mandatory group. Set up of the Residence Meal Plan account is automatically considered an acceptance of all the terms and conditions of the Residence Meal Plan Policy.

Your meal plan fees should be submitted with your tuition fees. Please proceed using these fees. All fees are subject to change. Meal Plan fee charges will be applied to your Student Account.

• The A plan is best for students with a lighter appetite who are not usually on campus during weekends.
• The B plan is best for students with a lighter appetite who are occasionally on campus during weekends.
• The C plan is our most popular plan. It is best for students with an average appetite who tend to stay on campus most weekends
• The D plan is best for students with a hearty appetite who tend to stay on campus most weekends.