Relocation process for faculty and senior management

The following outlines the steps for obtaining relocation assistance for eligible faculty members and senior management staff who are described as “new hires” below and “designated professionals” in the relocation policy. 

All mentions of “the moving company” below refer to any one of UBC’s designated relocation and moving companies and their sub-contractors (unless otherwise noted.) Family members who are helping with relocation may also find it useful to become familiar with these steps.

What managers and administrators need to know

Attention hiring departments: information for the relocation processes (including Workday and finance steps) can be found in Limits to Central Relocation Fund expenses.

Summary of how payments are made:

• Either the new hire or the hiring department pays for eligible expenses up front depending on the kind of expense.
• The new hire forwards any receipts or invoices to the hiring department if the hiring department wasn’t originally copied on them.
• If the new hire pays up front, the hiring department reimburses the new hire from the department budgets.
• Then, for all eligible expenses under the relocation policy, the hiring department requests reimbursement from the Central Relocation Fund, the UBC fund that supports the relocation policy.

Overall steps:

1. Your hiring department negotiates the terms of relocation funding with you using the following as general guidelines:

• Central Relocation Fund Contribution Table
• Policy HR6 – Relocation (formerly Policy #82)
• Policy FM8 - Business Expenses (formerly Policy #83)

If you have any questions regarding the limits and the expenses that can be reimbursed, please follow up with your department administrator or Joyce Wei, Relocation and Benefits Analyst before those expenses occur.

For other assistance in helping you and your family make a smooth transition to UBC in Vancouver or Kelowna, please contact Housing and Relocation Services.

2. Your hiring department confirms the terms of relocation funding in your Letter of Offer.
3. Your department administrator provides you with the UBC Contact and Information Sheet to complete. (Note: The sheet is for QMM moves, but may be used as a resource for other moves.)
4. Once you have completed the UBC Contact and Information Sheet, please provide it to your moving company’s Relocation Coordinator. Their contact information is on our Contacts page. (Note: This step applies to QMM moves only. For all other moves, please contact your moving company’s relocation coordinator directly.) You must use the moving companies designated by UBC or CAUBO in order to be reimbursed from the Central Relocation Fund. If you need to make travel arrangements, you can find more information at the UBC Travel website. You are also free to make your own travel arrangements and still be covered under the relocation policy.
5. The moving company Relocation Coordinator contacts you to go over preliminary questions and arrange for a survey of household goods and personal effects to be moved.
6. The moving company performs the survey.
7. The moving company creates an estimated quote and sends it to you and your department administrator.
8. Your department administrator authorizes the estimated quote by setting up a Purchase Order with Financial Operations in Vancouver.

• To do this, the administrator submits a Purchase Requisition along with the quote from the moving company, and any other documentation to support the quote (e.g., email correspondence) in Workday.
• Financial Operations then sends the Purchase Order number to your department administrator and the moving company Relocation Coordinator.
• As changes may arise during the move, the moving company Relocation Coordinator may send revised quotes to you and the department administrator for approval. Once a revised quote is approved, the department administrator submits a change order in Workday to modify the Purchase Order.

9. The moving company performs the relocation and sends a final invoice to UBC's Financial Operations for payment. If the invoice is only sent to you, please forward it to your department administrator.
10. For other relocation expenses, please submit your original invoices and receipts to your department administrator for payment or reimbursement of your eligible expenses. You may have relocation expenses that are considered taxable benefits, such as customs and immigration expenses. Your department administrator will arrange to have these captured on your T4, the Statement of Remuneration Paid, which you will receive from UBC to submit to the Canada Revenue Agency when filing your taxes. For more information on taxable benefits, please see the Canada Revenue Agency website on moving expenses.
11. The hiring department submits a claim for reimbursement from the Central Relocation Fund, the UBC fund that supports the relocation policy, for all of the eligible expenses it has paid on your behalf under the policy. The hiring department includes original invoices and receipts. If original invoices and receipts have already been used for earlier reimbursement to you, then they may submit back-up copies.
12. If your hiring department pays up front for any relocation expenses that result in costs exceeding your total negotiated relocation allowance (including either the limit available from the Central Relocation Fund and/or any limit negotiated from the department’s own budget at the time the job offer was made), you are responsible for reimbursing your hiring department for the excess amount. Please discuss this issue with your department administrator.
13. Please be advised that if you voluntarily leave UBC before a 24-month period, you will be responsible for reimbursing the University for the Central Relocation Funds paid on a pro-rated basis as per the relocation policy. The hiring department is responsible for calculating and collecting the reimbursement on behalf of the University.

For a summary of the process, please download the Relocation Process Checklist for Relocating Faculty and Senior Management (PDF). (Note: The checklist is for QMM moves, but may be used as a resource for other moves.)