I am looking to cancel a course, but im not sure how that will affect my academics in the future,
worndering if anyone could help me out with that.

If you do it within the dead line then no marks are recorded. It will not affect your overall GPA. March 11th for Term 2 and 3.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /registered/

If you need to course to enter Year 2. You need to have this done in the Summer. If it is not available then you will have problem entering Year 2.

All that will happen if you drop it before the deadline is that it will show "Cancelled" on your transcript.

It will affect your course load for the year though, which might be a concern for certain professional schools like med/law school. They really dislike applicants who take less than a full course load during the school year.

What about co-op? Do they care as well when I'm applying?

I don't know about all faculties, but Engineering Co-op doesn't care if you cancel a course. I don't think other faculties would either. It shouldn't affect going into co-op, but you could check with an academic adviser or your faculties co-op office first if you were concerned.

Canceling a course before march 11th won't affect your average, your transcript will just come up saying canceled.

But keep in mind the comment above, it may be best to pick this course back up again in the coming summer if it is a prerequisite for further courses or if it is required for your admission into second year.

Since this is only your first year, I don't think too many grad schools would be concerned if you canceled a course in first year. So I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Good Luck.