MTHEL 131Introduction to Actuarial Practice
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Mathematics
- Subject
- Mathematics Elective
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Individual life insurance products. Introduction to property and casualty insurance. Introductory risk management, insurance pricing and valuation. Pension plan design.
Prerequisites
- Must have completed the following: 4U Calculus and Vectors
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 6259 | 107 / 150 | T 18:30–21:20 |
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 5831 | 0 / 150 | T 18:30–21:20 |
| LEC 701 | 2298 | 87 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
40% liked it60% easy63% useful
From 144 ratings and 42 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Prof had only 4 in person lectures all term, so the entire course is memorizing a textbook. The midterms had content that were not in any of the readings or video lectures. Not to mention, last minute he changed midterm 2 from online to in-person. Writing assignment marked very harshly. All together, makes it very hard to get a good grade.
Dec 2023 · didn’t like it · 3 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Course on life insurance, some material can be dry or interesting depending on the person
Apr 2016 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
A good introduction course that connects the basic foundation to the overall practice of Actuarial Science
Dec 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Ease: 3/10 - The weekly workload includes watching lecture videos, attending long, boring lectures and doing the weekly quiz. The writing assignment is harshly graded and the exams pull up obscure information (eg. Assuris is mentioned in 1 lecture video, and nowhere in the textbooks).
Usefulness: 4/10 - Decent introduction to Insurance. However, it will not be too useful for daily work, as the course is mostly various facts about insurance.
Quality: 2/10 - Long, boring, poorly recorded online lecture videos, the syllabus still has stuff from the Covid era, and Piazza isn't great. It's also mostly self taught, almost makes me wonder why I'm even here...
Enjoyment: 0/10 - Self explanatory.…Dec 2024 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Delivered through an online setting was a nice break since it wasn't as demanding but man the content and stuff covered in the textbook was boring and it gets in the way of studying for math. The teaching assistants were useless and provided the worst feedback possible on assignments.They also did not answer questions on piazza or connect me with the society of actuaries to review my paper when I asked them to, insisting that I read the outline again for the thousandth time, which OBVIOUSLY would help right?????
Nov 2021 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
293 posts and comments in 192 threads mention MTHEL 131, May 2013 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Fall 2024
Overloading 1B Courses 1 point, 6 comments
u/4yan_6: “… However, I am still interested in taking the electives I currently have on my schedule, which are MTHEL131 and PHIL110A. This means that if I were to add STAT to my schedule, I would be looking at a total of 3.75 units (cuz of CS136L and PD1). …”
MTHEL 131 for ActSci 2 points, 1 comment
u/DDespacitOO: “I did not take MTHEL 131 in my 1A term and I'm planning to take it in my upcoming 1B term. Do I need to take MTHEL 131 in my first year to be in ActSci or can I take it next year?”
MTHEL 131 Online 1 point, 2 comments
u/taymour_amin: “Yo I was wondering if anyone here is taking MTHEL 131 in 1B and if anyone has taken it how is it?”
Mthel 131 1 point, 3 comments
u/Top_Exercise_3993: “Hey! Is anyone taking this course this semester? (Introduction to Acturial Science). Please reach out!”
Farm and Act Sci double major? I'm so lost 1 point, 1 comment
u/Different_Quality_39: “… Do I have to take MTHEL131 in my 1B term? 2. how many extra courses would I have to take? 3. Is there a specialization that would be favored (CFA vs PRM) if I decided to do the double major? 4. What co-ops should I ideally be looking out for for my first? …”
u/thetermguy: “Some of the actsci courses have mthel 131 as a prereq iirc, so get it over with. Farm adds nothing to actsci and I doubt actsci adds anything to farm. Pick one. The only thing that matters with actsci are credentials/industry exams. …”
Spring 2024
Demand for Actuaries in Canada 13 points, 5 comments
“What is the demand and pay/benefits for Actuaries/actuarial students in Canada, post IFRS 17 implementation? Specifically for the Life and Pensions field. …”
u/DarkEmperor7135: “I’ll preface this by saying that I’m just a fourth-year student with a couple co-ops under my belt in life insurance, so I hope someone with more experience can chime in. …”
u/DarkEmperor7135: “… If you’re interested in the major, I recommend taking MTHEL 131 as an elective sometime during first year. …”
u/xgwang66: “Really appreciate! I would like to take Mthel 131 next semester.”
easy online courses at uw 11 points, 15 comments
“i'm a math major and I was planning out my courses for the rest of my undergrad, and I need 2 easy online courses that I can take over a co-op. …”
u/Interesting_Bed6243: “AFM 101 (High school review). Mthel 131 if you are decent at writing and memorizing.”
1A course recommendations and Co-Op 1 point, 12 comments
“I am an incoming math students and would like to know what you recommend for 1A. I am leaning towards MATH 135, MATH 136, CS 135 and still deciding my communication and non-math elective. …”
u/Icy_Environment9241: “… Mthel131, econ101, phys, afm101 are some common choices, but again, pick something you find interesting - in 1B you’ll probably take math136, math138, cs136, and two electives - coop sequence doesn’t really matter. …”
Winter 2024
Math career thought dump 14 points, 17 comments
u/InterestingCredit961: “… I've also been exploring many of the math majors, some of which I have considered are: 1) Actuarial Science (probably w Stats) I did take MTHEL 131 this sem and although the course was poorly ran, I did somewhat enjoy learning about the various insurance products and their role …”
u/onlyinsurance-ca: “… Mthel 131 is not indicative of actuarial. Your first real intro will be actsci 231, theory of interest. Bonus, uw slays in actuarial. Half the books you need for exams are written by uw profs. …”
Mthel 131 1 point, 0 comments
u/Effective-Treacle114: “For those who have taken a recent offering of mthel 131, how was midterm 2 (final)? And how much did you study”
Midterm posted 40 mins late Mthel 131 3 points, 0 comments
2a course selection 1 point, 3 comments
u/Minute-Wolverine417: “is math235 237 stat230 amath250 afm101 and mthel131 doable? I know these courses r not hard courses but there’re 4 maths. Wanna take mthel131 since im not sure if I’ll do actsci or mathfin rn”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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