Apple’s digital student cards are coming to Canada and more US schools

As a new school year approaches, Apple is once again expanding the availability of its contactless student cards. After initial deployment in 2018 and subsequent expansions since, the software is making its way to Canada for the first time.

In 2021, the University of New Brunswick and Sheridan College outside of Toronto will allow students to add their ID cards to Apple Wallet and use their iPhones and Apple Watches to access facilities and pay for food and other items and services on campus. In the United States, “many more” schools, including Auburn University, the University of Northern Arizona, the University of Maine and the State University of New Mexico, will adopt the software this fall.

It will likely be many more years before every school offers digital ID cards for students, but technology is clearly becoming more and more ubiquitous. In April, Apple said it saw more students using their mobile credentials to make purchases and access campus facilities than their plastic counterparts for the first time since the software launched. In the fall, the University of Alabama, one of the first to adopt the technology, will issue mobile IDs exclusively to students with the necessary hardware, marking a first for the platform.