We are hosting an in-person Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from September 11-14, 2025. The Annual Meeting is a great opportunity for scholars to gather for sessions and workshops, create valuable connections and research partnerships, see the latest in the Exhibit Hall, and tap into vital career services. We believe the in-person event provides an unparalleled opportunity for these events.

To help address international travel concerns, APSA has created a limited virtual participation option for select presenters at the Annual Meeting. Please visit the Annual Meeting Planning Update page for more information

By attending, you agree to follow any COVID-related protocols mandated by local authorities at the time of the event. APSA strongly recommends that attendees be vaccinated for COVID-19 in advance of the Annual Meeting and wear masks while in the meeting spaces. APSA reserves the right to enact stricter protocols should they be warranted by public health circumstances closer to the meeting. Please view our health and safety page, and check back often for updates.  

We have created a first-time attendee guide to help. If you have any questions not covered in the guide or on our website, feel free to email us at meeting@apsanet.org. We’re always happy to help!

January 20: Submission deadline for all proposals
March: Notifications are sent out and participation confirmations are due
March 31: Affiliated event requests and working group applications are due
April: Registration and housing will open
May: Deadline for the travel grant application
June 23: Pre-registration deadline for program participants 
July 9: Early bird registration deadline

Exhibit Hall Hours:

Thursday, September 11: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT
Friday, September 12: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, September 13: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. PT

All iPoster sessions will take place in the Exhibit Hall on Thursday-Saturday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. PT.

First and foremost, we recommend visiting the Government of Canada’s Travel website. You can also visit our Travel to Canada page for more information. 

Limited travel grants are being offered to qualified applicants for attendance at the 2025 APSA Annual Meeting. Please see the Travel Grants page for more information. Any questions can be sent to travelgrants@apsanet.org.

All union properties at the Annual Meeting in Vancouver have signed agreements in place through at least the end of 2025.

Registration is now open! APSA offers member and non-member registration rates, which can be found on our registration page. This year, to help address concerns around international travel, APSA is offering a limited virtual participation option and will have a virtual registration option. For more information about this, please visit the Annual Meeting Planning Update page. Be sure to register early as the program participant deadline is Monday, June 23^rd and the early-bird pricing ends July 9^th!

With the increased concerns regarding international travel, APSA has created a limited virtual participation option for select presenters at the Annual Meeting. Presenters approved for this format should select the virtual option when registering. Non-presenting attendees wishing to attend the meeting virtually are also welcome to select the virtual option when registering.

Please note that all panels will be held in an in-person format, with over 280 of these panels allowing for additional virtual attendance as well. Registering as a virtual attendee does not allow for virtual presentation unless previously approved by APSA.

Registration is located at the Vancouver Convention Center West and will be open at the following times:

Wednesday, September 10: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 11: 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Friday, September 12: 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 13: 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Please visit our Housing page for more information on hotels with special group rates and room blocks available on a first-come, space-available basis for our meeting attendees. To obtain these rates, you will need to book through the online hotel reservation system and not directly with the hotel. The housing website will close on August 28.

*Please be aware of unauthorized hotel solicitations. Only book your hotel through the link on our Housing page to avoid potential scams.*

Companies may contact you indicating that they are affiliated with “Association/Event Name,” and claim to offer hotels at a reduced rates. These companies are not affiliated in any way with the American Political Science Association, and we strongly recommend that you DO NOT use their services. At past events, exhibitors and attendees have used these companies and lost deposits or did not receive the hotel rooms they reserved. If you are contacted by a company, please let us know at meeting@apsanet.org.

For Program Participants:
Yes, invitation letters can be provided to all participants accepted and listed on the official program (both members and non-members). For those whose visa applications require an invitation letter to travel to the Annual Meeting, please complete our Invitation Letter Request Form at your earliest convenience. Please allow at least two business days for a response due to our high volume of requests. Please send any questions about invitation letters to meeting@apsanet.org.

If you would like to request an invitation letter that does not include the title of your paper(s) or panel(s), please email the request to meeting@apsanet.org.

For Attendees Only:
If you are not a presenter or participant on the Annual Meeting program, please instead use your meeting registration receipt as supporting documentation for your visa application where needed.

Registration receipts are emailed at time of purchase, but can be accessed again under your MyAPSA account. Access your receipts under “Recent Orders” by clicking on the “View” icon next to the appropriate receipt.

*Invitation letters are intended for visa application purposes only. If you require a letter for any other circumstances, such as travel funding or travel approval from your university or organization, please review the information on justification letters below.*

APSA understands that with tight travel budgets, obtaining funds or permission to attend conferences can be difficult. The letters linked below can be used to help describe the benefits of attending the 2025 APSA Annual Meeting. Please select the one that applies to your situation and edit as needed to fit you personally.

Attendee Resource Page

APSA Members

Conference Attendee

Program Presenter

Community College Faculty

Non-Members

Conference Attendee

Program Presenter

Community College Faculty

Notification emails will go out in early-March. All participants should RSVP by March 20, 2025.

By Thursday, March 20:

1) Login to the submission system, using your APSAnet.org login information.

2) On the RSVP menu, select the “Confirm or Decline Participation” link.

3) For each participation role, you will need to accept or decline.  If you have been accepted to more than one role and/or session (paper presenter in a session, session chair, discussant, poster session presenter, etc.), you will see a list of items – for each you need to either confirm or decline. 

4) Click “Accept and Continue.”

5) Review your work and click “Save.” Once your response has been successfully recorded, you will be taken to a confirmation email page, and you will also receive a confirmation email, indicating your response(s).

All paper authors can now adjust the author and non-presenting co-author roles in the system. To do so, log into the submission system and click “Submit or Edit a Proposal.” Under this, you will be able to change authors to non-presenting co-authors and non-presenting co-authors to authors. Please note that all papers must have at least one author and an acceptance from that author to remain on the program. The deadline to be able to edit these roles via the submission system is Thursday, March 20. Once the change is made, a new invitation will be generated in the system for the presenting authors to respond to.

*Please note that non-presenting co-authors are considered “inactive” roles, so they do not require an RSVP and will not show up on your RSVP dashboard.

No. You can only adjust between presenting and non-presenting co-author roles for existing authors within the system. If you would like to add or remove an author, please contact meeting@apsanet.org to make this change for you.

If you believe you have already responded to this role, it is possible that the submitters of the proposal have made changes to the author roles. Please log into the system and confirm your role.

There is also a two step save process for your roles. Please be sure your responded to all roles. 

All authors that declined will automatically become non-presenting co-authors after the March 20 deadline. If the all authors on a submission decline, the paper will be removed from the program. If you wish to be fully removed from participation on a paper, please email meeting@apsanet.org. 

If you are a non-presenting co-author, the system considers it an “inactive” role, so you do not need to RSVP, and it will not show up on your RSVP dashboard in the submission system.

Accordion Content

All iPosters are created and published electronically, and displayed in a unique, searchable online gallery. iPosters will be presented in-person at the Annual Meeting in Vancouver during a scheduled time slot. Your iPoster will be shared on a screen in our Exhibit Hall during your scheduled poster session, along with other division presenters. Find more information on iPosters here.

Lightning Rounds are similar to PechaKucha and will be held in-person in Vancouver. Each session will feature eight presenters. Each scholar will have five minutes to present, followed by five minutes of feedback or Q&A. This format provides a structured framework, giving presenters not only an opportunity to share their research at the world’s largest political science meeting, but also a chance to develop and enhance their research communication skills through a concise, focused presentation.

Requests to present virtually were due on April 14^th and notifications were sent shortly thereafter. At this time, we are no longer accepting virtual participation requests. APSA will continue to closely monitor the international travel situation and will provide any updates to the Annual Meeting if needed.

The Participant Guide can be found here.

Please visit the Annual Meeting Planning Updates page for more detailed information.