Frequently Asked Questions

Gowns can also be rented on-site on the day of your ceremony. Please arrive a minimum of 45-60 minutes prior to the ceremony to ensure you leave adequate time to pick up your regalia from the Bookstore staff at the Robing Room. You can pay cash, credit, debit or with your Open Account Worktag (UBC Bookstore account).

On-site registration locations are: 

Vancouver – The Robing Room for faculty is located in the Royal Bank Cinema at the Chan Centre. Access via the Royal Bank Cinema entrance off of Crescent Road.

Okanagan – The UBC Okanagan Bookstore

No, you do not need to buy both. If you buy the Canvas Digital option, this gives you both the eBook and Canvas access completely digitally. Buying the Canvas Print option gives you Canvas Access but packaged with a printed book instead of an eBook.

Access codes are sometimes sold individually and are also often sold packaged along with an e-text, print book or both. All digital materials classified in our system as "ETEXT + ACCESS CODE" include the eBook plus the publishers' digital homework aids. Digital Materials that are sold as an access code only are classified in our system as “ACCESS CODE.”

To order items that are not on the Workday supplies catalogue, you can use the Workday special requisition process. Please refer to the Workday instructions for ordering non-catalogue items.   Your ISC support team can assist with the training. Please use this link for ISC Service Now.

Clothing vendors supplying products to the Bookstore are expected to comply with the following guidelines which are consistent with those established by the Fair Labour Practices Association, International Labour Organization, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We will not do business with vendors that do not meet these guidelines.

Health, safety and employment guidelines

Forced labour: There shall not be any use of forced labour, whether in the form of prison labour, indentured labour, bonded labour or otherwise.

Child labour: No person shall be employed at an age younger than 15 (or 14 where the International Labour Organization exemption for developing countries allows) or younger than the age for completing compulsory education in the manufacturer’s country where that age is higher than 15. Currently, employed child workers shall be kept employed and be given access to education and transitional economic assistance. Where a child worker must be displaced, adult family members should have the opportunity to assume the child’s position in order to maintain family earnings.

Harassment and abuse: Every employee shall be treated with respect and dignity. No employee shall be subject to any physical, sexual, psychological, verbal harassment or abuse.

Non-discrimination: No person shall be subject to any discrimination in employment, including hiring, salary, benefits, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement, on the basis of gender, race, religion, caste, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation or union membership.

Women’s rights: All employees shall have the right to work in an environment free from sexual harassment and abuse. No worker shall be subject to the forced use of contraceptives or pregnancy testing. Pregnant women will be entitled to appropriate maternity leave and appropriate medical benefits in accordance with national laws and regulations and consistent with national practices.

Health and safety: Employers shall provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of or occurring in the course of work or as a result of the operation of employer facilities. Workers will be provided with health and safety training appropriate to their industry.

Freedom of association and collective bargaining: Employers shall recognize and respect the right of all employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Wages and benefits: Employers recognize that wages are essential to meeting employees’ basic needs. Employers shall pay employees, as a minimum, at least the minimum wage required by local law or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide legally mandated benefits.

Hours of work: Employees shall (i) not be required to work more than the lesser of (a) 48 hours per week and 12 hours overtime or (b) the limits on regular and overtime hours allowed by the law of the country of manufacture or, where the laws of such country do not limit the hours of work, the regular work week in such country plus 12 hours overtime and (ii) be entitled to at least one day off in every seven day period.

Overtime compensation: In addition to compensation for regular hours of work, employees shall be compensated for overtime hours at such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture or, in those countries where such laws do not exist, at a rate at least equal to their regular hourly compensation rate times 1.5. All overtime shall be voluntary.
Environmental guidelines: Vendors will seek out, implement and exercise environmental practices wherever possible, including a commitment to packaging standards that reduce the amount of materials used/ or, have a recycled content. Vendors will also demonstrate environmental safety in the handling of all materials.

Legal guidelines: Vendors will be law abiding and will observe criminal, civil and tax codes in the countries they do business and will comply with all applicable legal and customs requirements of Canada.

Some publishers place printing and time restrictions on eBooks. When this is the case, generally, the minimum is 180 days and the maximum is 360 days. For further information on your specific digital materials purchase, complete the form here and a Bookstore team member will assist you.

Please send us an email at gown.rentals@ubc.ca.

We accept both Visa and Mastercard credit cards and UBC Bookstore Gift Cards for online orders. We cannot accept American Express or debit cards for online orders.

Yes! Please contact our Custom Imprint Buyer to discuss consignment opportunities through the UBC Bookstore.

We use three different distributors in order to make as many digital course materials available to students as we possibly can. The downside to this is that redeeming your digital course materials can seem...complicated. We get it. We hope these step-by-step instructions will help.

1. Determine whether you have purchased a Campus E-Bookstore, Vitalsource or Canvas Digital product. In your online order Status Update email, find the shipment for the item you wish to activate. It should tell you which type of course material you have purchased and provide instructions on what to do next, but if you are unsure:

• Campus E-Bookstore: Below the item name, you should see a 12-character redemption code in red, separated by dashes (combination of letters and numbers).
• Vitalsource:  Below the item name, you should see a 20-character access code (combination of letters and numbers).
• Canvas Digital: the item you have purchased will be named “Canvas Digital: [publication title]” or Canvas Print: [publication title]”

2. Visit the link that corresponds with your purchase and follow the on-screen instructions:

• For Campus E-Bookstore purchases, click here for step-by-step redemption instructions
• For Vitalsource purchases, click here for step-by-step redemption instructions..
• For Canvas Access Codes, click here for step-by-step redemption instructions.

More details can be found on our Digital Course Materials page.

You are welcome to come and shop in person or you can order your books online using our Sponsored Students Order Form: https://bookstore.ubc.ca/sponsored-students/

As an ethical buyer, the Bookstore responds to any reports of labour rights violations as follows:

• If we receive a report, that we consider credible (examples might include reports from a non-governmental organization, labour organization or media source), that a vendor or subcontractor has violated the Vendor Code of Conduct contained in this policy, the Bookstore will inform the vendor of the specific complaint. The vendor will have 30 days from the date of the notice to respond to the allegation on behalf of itself and its subcontractors. If the vendor acknowledges the allegation is wholly or partially correct, it must provide a detailed rectification plan acceptable to us outlining a program of  how it will rectify the problems within a year
• We can request an inspection of a vendor’s facilities by a third party to determine if a violation occurred or to establish whether the violation has been addressed. The cost of this inspection is borne by the vendor
• In the event that violations are found, whether they are acknowledged by the vendor or verified in an inquiry by an independent inspector, remedial action by the vendor must include, as a minimum, the reinstatement of any worker found to have been unlawfully dismissed, as well as compensation for lost wages
• If the vendor does not respond to the report of a violation, fails to cooperate with an inspection or fails to provide a rectification plan acceptable to us, we will terminate without notice or penalty any contract and will not conduct any future business with the vendor.

Order history is not available through Workday. Users with a previous EWAY ID can still access your EWAY order history to find item numbers.  New users can email SBA Customer Care at easyservice@staples.com for assistance with item# to add to cart.

There are a few common reasons why you may be encountering an error message at checkout. 

If you are ordering from an international location (other than the US) and you need your order shipped to you: Our address form has line-character limits. if you have a long address, try adding the second optional Address Line to space out your address onto two lines. In the Postal Code panel, enter 000000 (six zeros) instead of your actual postal code (don’t worry, your parcel will still find you).

If you are ordering for pick-up in store: to collect your purchase in store, please complete your billing address first. Once this has been added, please select the option for picking up in store. Your shipping address will automatically match your billing address, but this does not mean your items will be shipped to you if you have selected to pick up in store.

Ensure you are using an accepted method of payment: our ecommerce site accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards and UBC Bookstore gift cards only. We do not currently accept Visa or Mastercard debit, American Express, WeChat or AliPay.

Check carefully to ensure your billing information is correct: your billing address must match exactly what is shown on your credit card statement. 

If you are still having problems placing your online order, please submit a support request using this webform and we will do everything we can to assist you.

You MUST have your own receipt with your own receipt codes in order to access the materials. In order to avoid encountering issues accessing your course materials, please do not purchase with your friends on the same receipt.