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Dalhousie Meal Plans and Dining Halls: Freedom Plan, Block Plans and Foodbucks
If you live in a traditional Dalhousie residence, which includes every first-year building, you need a meal plan. For almost everyone that's the Freedom Plan: unlimited dining hall visits plus $200 in Foodbucks. It costs $6,232 for 2026-27 in Halifax and in Truro. You choose your plan when you accept your room offer, and it's billed with your residence fees. Dal hasn't published 2027-28 meal plan prices yet.
Sources checked September 30, 2026. View sources
Which plan your residence needs
You don't buy a residence meal plan separately from Dal Food Services. You select it while accepting your room, and the Residence Office handles any change during the year.
| Where you live | Meal plan | Your options |
|---|---|---|
| Howe, Risley, Shirreff or Gerard Hall | Required | Freedom Plan |
| LeMarchant Place | Required | Freedom Plan, Block Plan 1 or Block Plan 2 |
| Glengary Apartments or Grad House | Optional | Add a plan through the Residence Office |
| Chapman, Fraser or Trueman House (Truro) | Required | Freedom Plan |
| Truro graduate and mature housing | Optional | Add a plan through the Residence Office |
2026-27 residence meal plan prices
Each plan includes 4 guest passes and $200 in Foodbucks. On the Freedom Plan, the Foodbucks are split $100 per term. The two block plans are only for LeMarchant Place, because its suites include kitchen facilities.
| Plan | What you get | Fall 2026 | Winter 2027 | 2026-27 total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Plan (Halifax) | Unlimited dining hall visits | $3,074.30 | $3,157.70 | $6,232 |
| Freedom Plan (Truro) | Unlimited visits to Jenkins Hall | $3,131.05 | $3,100.95 | $6,232 |
| Block Plan 1 | 217 meals, about 7 a week | Not listed | Not listed | $4,825 |
| Block Plan 2 | 155 meals, about 5 a week | Not listed | Not listed | $3,882 |
- Dal's food services site, run by Aramark, lists a Freedom Fall Semester plan for residence students at $3,102.00. That's different from both fall figures on Dal's residence meal plan page. Your student account shows the actual charge.
- Freedom Plan fees are charged with your residence fees, which were due September 22, 2026 for fall and are due January 25, 2027 for winter.
The four Halifax dining halls
All four serve all-you-care-to-eat meals, and menus change daily. Three are open to everyone. Risley's hall is reserved for Risley and LeMarchant residents because it's small. If you don't have a meal plan, you can pay at the door at Howe, Shirreff and O'Brien.
Each hall lists the same hours: breakfast 7:30 to 10 a.m., continental breakfast 10 to 11:30 a.m., lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., a smaller afternoon menu 2 to 4:30 p.m., and dinner 4:30 to 9 p.m.
| Dining hall | Where | Seats | Who can eat there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howe | Howe Hall, 6230 Coburg Road, Studley | 196 plus 151 in the Cameron Room | All residents, off-campus students, faculty and staff |
| Shirreff | Shirreff Hall, 6385 South Street, Studley | 196 | All residents, off-campus students, faculty and staff |
| O'Brien | O'Brien Hall, 5217 Morris Street, Sexton | 98 | All residents, off-campus students, faculty and staff |
| Risley | Risley Hall, 1233 LeMarchant Street, Studley | 144 | Risley Hall and LeMarchant Place residents only |
- Howe is the largest. It has a made-to-order station and True Balance, a station for students avoiding common allergens.
- Late-night dining runs at Risley Thursday to Saturday, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., for all residents. It isn't part of the meal plan, but you can pay with Foodbucks, credit or debit.
Jenkins Hall on the Truro campus
Jenkins dining hall, at 40 Horseshoe Crescent, is where most Truro residence students eat. It keeps the same daily hours as the Halifax halls and seats 250 to 300 with the Riverview Room. It's open to residents, off-campus students, faculty and staff, with pay at the door for anyone without a plan.
Jenkins has a pantry space where you can cook with ingredients the kitchen supplies. Dal's Truro dining page names Aramark as the campus food provider. The other places to eat are Cox Café and Barley Café, a self-serve café in the MacRae Library.
Meal plans if you live off campus
You don't need to live in residence to buy a plan. Dal's food services site lists these off-campus plans. The block plans run across the whole academic year.
| Off-campus plan | Meals | Extras | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Fall Semester | Unlimited, fall term | $200 Foodbucks, 4 guest meals | $3,102.00 |
| 80 Block Plan | 80 | $350 Foodbucks, 5 guest meals, 10 free meals | $1,832.00 |
| 40 Block Plan | 40 | $100 Foodbucks, 3 guest meals, 5 free meals | $906.00 |
| 25 Block Plan | 25 | $25 Foodbucks, 3 free meals | $519.00 |
Foodbucks, DalCard and places to eat on campus
Foodbucks work at participating campus food outlets, including the Student Union Building food court, but not in the dining halls. If you pay with DalCard money at campus retail outlets, you earn 5% back to spend on future food purchases. That also excludes the dining halls.
- Killam Library atrium: Second Cup, Bento Sushi and Subway.
- Life Sciences Centre food court: Grille Works, PizzaPizza, Zoca and Tim Hortons.
- Mona Campbell Building: Topio's. Sexton Campus: Frederic's in the B Building.
- Carleton Campus: Starbucks in the Tupper Medical Building, Green Café in the Rowe Building and Brief Break Café in the Weldon Law Building.
- Student Union Building food court: Tim Hortons, Booster Juice, Passage to India, Mezza, Bento and The Abstract Café. The student-run Loaded Ladle there serves free meals.
Allergies, halal and other dietary needs
Dal says its Halifax dining halls don't use peanut or tree nut ingredients in any recipe, though packaged products may have been made near nuts. Stations are labelled halal, vegetarian, vegan, no gluten and no dairy. Dal notes that halal-labelled food may still have cross-contact, because kitchens are open and some food is served buffet-style.
In Halifax, you can book time with the on-campus dietitian at dietitian@dal.ca. In Truro, contact the food services team before you arrive or in your first week to plan for a dietary need.
Keep exploring
Sources and updates
This independent guide summarizes the official information linked below. Availability, access rules and application cycles can change; check the relevant university page before making a decision.
- Dalhousie Residence: meal plans, 2026-27
- Dalhousie Residence: costs and fees, 2026-27
- Dalhousie Residence: important dates and deadlines, 2026-27
- Dalhousie Dining (Aramark): residence student meal plans
- Dalhousie Dining (Aramark): off-campus meal plans
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: meal plans for off-campus students
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: residence dining halls and late-night dining
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Howe dining hall
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Shirreff dining hall
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: O'Brien dining hall
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Risley dining hall
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Jenkins dining hall, Truro
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Truro campus
- Dalhousie: Truro and Bible Hill campus tour stops
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: Halifax retail locations, Foodbucks and DalCard
- Dalhousie Campus Dining: special dietary needs and food labels