Admission Requirements

General Admission Requirements:

All students entering this program must normally satisfy the general requirements for admission to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. These include:

• Completion of a four-year bachelor's degree (or equivalent) at a recognized university with a GPA at or above the minimum required by the program.
• If English is an additional language, demonstrate abilities through a language competency test. You may request this requirement be waived if you completed your degree at a recognized university where the language of instruction is English and English is one of the official languages of the country where you completed your studies.
• For doctoral studies, completion of a thesis-based master's degree or its equivalent, or meet the requirements for direct admission/transfer into the doctoral program.

Program Admission Requirements:

Admission into this program is subject to the following minimum requirements:

• Minimum GPA of 3.0/4.3 (B average) in the last 60 credit hours (2 years) of study. An average mark from the past two years of A- (GPA=3.7 on 4.3 scale) is preferable.
• If required, TOEFL iBT scores of at least 92, or IELTS (Academic) scores of at least 7.
• Academic background relevant to proposed research.
• Research experience and letters of support.
• Research environment, infrastructure, and mentorship.
• Potential external fundability of the applicant.

Admission into this program is competitive. Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

Additional information on the application process, deadlines and supplementary material requirements can be found on the program's website.

Exceptional Admission and Prior Learning Assessments

The Faculty of Graduate Studies will consider exceptional admission requests when requested by the graduate program. Please contact the program directly if you wish to enquire about exceptional admission or prior learning assessment procedures. Not all programs support exceptional admission requests.

Transferring from Masters to PhD

For students transferring from a MSc program to PhD program or for students admitted directly to PhD program, a comprehensive examination (PHDP 8000.00: Doctoral Comprehensive Requirement) should be taken in the second year of the program or no later than the beginning of the third year. Thesis research (PHAC 9530.00: PhD Thesis), preparation and oral defense of a thesis are required.