Frequently asked questions

Pick an open time the tutor has published on their profile, confirm your name and the terms, and pay. Bookings inside a tutor's published hours are accepted automatically, so there is no need to wait for a reply.

To learn more about a tutor first, sign in and send them a message from their profile.

A booking only counts once payment succeeds, and both you and the tutor are notified. An unpaid time is held for you for 30 minutes. If you go back from the payment page, or the time runs out, the slot is released to others.

No. Students pay only the lesson price shown (in Canadian dollars). The platform charges students no extra fees.

Payments are processed by Stripe. You can pay by card (credit or debit) or Alipay. Only pay on the website's own payment page, and never send card numbers, passwords or verification codes by message or email.

Booking times are shown in the tutor's local time. If yours is different, your own time is shown too. Please check before you book.

Online lessons use Google Meet. Once you have paid, the site sets up a Google Meet room for the lesson. Its link shows on the lesson card under My bookings and is included in the payment email and the reminder emails. At lesson time, open the link and enter your name to join; no Google account is needed. A computer, phone or tablet all work, and phones and tablets can join in the browser without the app. The room closes automatically after the lesson. Check your camera and microphone a few minutes early.

We're just getting started, so only online lessons are open for now. In-person booking will open once the process and safety measures are ready.

Cancel at least 12 hours before the lesson and there is no charge. Within 12 hours, 10% of the lesson price goes to the tutor for their preparation time, with no platform share.

At least 12 hours ahead, you can move a lesson to another time with the same tutor, up to twice per lesson. Cancel or reschedule from Bookings at the top of the site. Once a lesson has started you can't cancel it yourself; please contact the admin.

When you cancel, the refund goes to your platform credit by default, with no fee. You can choose a refund to your original card instead, which costs 3.5% of the lesson price plus CAD $0.30. Card refunds depend on your bank and usually take a few business days.

Platform credit is money refunded to your account, and your next booking uses it first. If you'd rather not use it, request a refund to your original card from your account; the fee and the amount you'll receive are shown first. Credit returned because a tutor cancelled can go back to your card with no fee.

If the tutor cancels, or the admin confirms the tutor was absent, you get the full lesson price back: the card part to your card and the credit part to your credit, with no fees.

If the tutor didn't show up, choose "Report a lesson issue" after the lesson or tell us through Help.

Within 48 hours after the lesson ends, confirm it in your bookings or choose "Report a lesson issue" and the admin will follow up. Lessons with no confirmation or report after 48 hours are confirmed automatically.

Many tutors offer a 1-hour trial at 70%–100% of their hourly rate. The price is on the purple "1-hr trial" label on their card.

You can have one trial at a time with each tutor; cancelled or unpaid trials don't count. Packages can't be used for trials.

Some tutors give a discount when you buy several lessons at once. With a package, lessons with that tutor of the same length and course use a package lesson instead of a new payment.

A package doesn't reserve any time and never renews automatically. Unused lessons can be refunded: to platform credit by default, or to your original card with a fee.

The admin has checked the school and program of tutors with the green Certified badge. It covers education only, not other personal information. Tutors without it simply haven't been certified yet.

For students under 18, a parent or guardian should manage the account and payments.

Each account is for one student. If two children take lessons, please create an account for each; both accounts can add the same notification email under Student details so a parent receives every notice.

Check your spam folder first. Codes are valid for 10 minutes; you can ask for a new one after that.

To also receive notices at another address, add a notification email under Student details. If emails still don't arrive, write to opentutor.ca@gmail.com.