Application for admission

You can apply to Audiology (AUD), Occupational Therapy (OT), Physiotherapy (PT), and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) programs in Ontario through ORPAS.

To learn more about deadlines, the application process, document and program requirements, and more, see the ORPAS application guide. If you have any questions regarding deadlines or on submitting your application, contact ORPAS.

To learn more about these programs, see the official program descriptions listed in the University catalogue and on School of Rehabilitation Studies website. You can also view our admission FAQ webpage.

Consult the official descriptions of all our programs listed in the University's catalogue and discover our schools to choose the program or programs you would like to apply to.

Before submitting your application, make sure you have read all the information you need to prepare your file.

See the deadlines, academic qualifications and documents required for your program of study

Admission equivalencies

If you completed your studies in another country and are unsure whether your degree or average qualifies you for one of our programs, see our admission equivalencies.

Note that this tool is intended as a general reference and does not replace going through the admission process for graduate studies. Admission requirements may be higher for some programs.

Visa and study permit processing times

See the Immigration and Citizenship Canada visa and study permit processing times.

International Office

The University of Ottawa’s uOnternational provides international students with valuable information and services before and during their during at the University.

Language requirements

To be considered for admission, you must meet the language requirements for your program. Please consult the admission program requirements for more information on the levels that are required.

We may require additional language tests based on the program. Additional fees may apply.

Some of our programs require you to indicate a thesis supervisor when you apply. The supervisor guides you throughout your research and the writing of your thesis. 

For information about professors’ fields of interest as well as their contact information, see our schools’ websites. 

Before you contact a potential supervisor 

• Read the scholarly publications of potential thesis supervisors to see if any of their fields of research and methods fit with the topic or project you have in mind. 
• Read research papers or theses written by students who have been supervised by the potential supervisor. 
• Talk to other students. 
• Find out about the research infrastructure available through the potential supervisor (for example, laboratories and other facilities). 
• Make a list of questions and points to be addressed for a meeting with your potential supervisor. 
• When meeting or emailing a potential supervisor, be prepared with as much information as possible about your topic of interest. 

First contact with a potential supervisor  

• Email potential thesis supervisors and include the following information: 
  • Introduce yourself. 
  • State your interests clearly and how they match those of the professor.
  • Include information on your academic background and research experience. 
• Remember that professors are not obligated to take on a student if they feel the match would not be appropriate or if they lack lab space, time or funding. 
• Read this advice from a professor on what to write in your email to potential thesis supervisors
• Don’t send generic emails.
• Learn more about thesis supervision at uOttawa.

Supporting documents required can vary depending on the program. To check what documents are required for your program, see the admission program requirements. Below, you will also find information specific to certain documents that may be required for your application. 

To find out how to submit your documents, see Step 3 (below). 

Approval of Supervisor

If you are a student applying for admission to a thesis program that requires supervisor approval, you must ask your supervisor to sign the Approval of Supervisor form. You must then log into uoZone, select the uoDoc app, and upload a PDF copy of the form to your admission file.

Note: Students applying for admission to the Master of Science in Nursing, thesis option, do not need to secure a supervisor for admission.

Letters of reference

Our recommendation process for admission is completed online and is entirely confidential. To begin, enter the name and email address of your referees in the “Admission File” application of your uoZone portal. An automated email will be sent to them and they will be prompted to fill out an electronic reference form. 

• Contact your referees two to three weeks before you are ready to apply to confirm that they are willing to provide you with a letter of recommendation and to get their email addresses and current job titles. 
• Unless the application requirements for your program state that professional references are acceptable or required, letters of recommendation must come from qualified academic scholars who can attest to and demonstrate your potential for graduate-level study or research. 
• Let your referees know that the University of Ottawa’s letter of recommendation process is done online and is entirely confidential. They will receive a link by email to the secure online system. 
• Give your referees a deadline to ensure they submit their letters of recommendation on time. Your application will not be considered complete and will not be evaluated until all your letters of recommendation are received. 
• Letters of recommendation must be in English or French. 
• We do not accept letters of recommendation from family members, friends, students, former or current classmates, employees or teaching assistants. 
• Provide academic or work email addresses for your referees. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and similar addresses are discouraged. 

Transcripts

• Former or current University of Ottawa students do not need to submit  transcripts for their studies at the University of Ottawa. 
• Students graduating from an Ontario university can order an official version of their transcript through OUAC for a fee. 
• If you have studied at any other postsecondary institutions, upload these transcripts through your student portal. See Step 3 for more information on uploading documents. 
• Transcripts must include all courses (including those you are registered in for the current term), all grades and all degree(s) awarded. 
• If the transcript does not clearly indicate that your degree has been conferred, upload a copy of the certificate or diploma. 
• If your transcripts are in a language other than English or French, you must submit an English or French translation provided by the institution issuing the transcripts or by a certified translator, in addition to copies of your transcripts in the original language. 
• We verify all transcripts and diplomas for authenticity. 
• If you receive an offer of admission, you will need to request an official copy of all your transcripts. These transcripts must be sent to the University of Ottawa directly from your previous institution(s) either by mail or email at [email protected].
• Transcripts submitted to the University of Ottawa become the property of the University and are not returned. 

Letter of Intent

Master’s program

Your letter of intent (two or three pages) must address the following: 

• Research project: Indicate the field you propose to research. Be as specific as possible about your research goals. 
• Preparation: Indicate your educational background and ability to deal with this topic (courses and seminars you took as an undergraduate or relevant research).
• Your relevant experience (participation in an exchange program, work as a research assistant, lab work, etc.), as well as your career goals 
• Anything that might seem unusual in your academic history (for example, poor grades one term due to illness, time away from university, etc.). 

Doctoral program 

Your letter of intent (two or three pages) must address the following: 

• Research project: Give a general outline of your research project, career goals and matters relevant to your chosen research field (definitions of topics, research hypotheses and sources). 
• Preparation: Mention your abilities and background with regard to your proposed topic (university education, personal research, well-known scientists you have worked with, etc.). 
• Previous applications for graduate scholarships from appropriate bodies, and whether you have received them.

Narrative Statement (for student applying to nursing master’s, or nursing master’s with diploma in PHCNP)

Narrative statement (maximum 2 pages or 500 words) describing:

1. How the MSc in Nursing will enable you to achieve your career goals;
2. The length and type of your clinical experience;
3. Your research experience and interests.

Confirmation of eligibility to practice from the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) or an equivalent provincial body (for students applying to a nursing master’s or diploma program)

Upload your confirmation of eligibility to practice. If it is from the College of Nurses of Ontario, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to the College of Nurses of Ontario (or equivalent body’s) website
2. Select “Find a Nurse” and enter your personal information (other nursing bodies may have a nurse verification section).
3. Select Print this page.  
4. Save the printed page as a PDF document. 
5. Upload the PDF document into your admission file by logging into uoZone and selecting the uoDoc app. 

Note: If you are completing your BScN and do not yet have confirmation of eligibility to practice from the CNO (or equivalent confirmation from another Canadian province or territory) at the time you apply, upload a Word document explaining that you will be eligible to apply to the College of Nurses by the end of your undergraduate studies.

International students

If you are an international student, please note that the process to apply for and receive confirmation of eligibility to practice from the College of Nurses of Ontario (or equivalent confirmation from another Canadian province or territory) can be long. You may not receive confirmation in time to meet the admission deadlines. We recommend that international students start the process of confirming their eligibility with the CNO, or your equivalent Canadian association, as soon as possible.

PhD applicants must be a Registered Nurse (RN) in Canada or have the equivalent qualification in another country.

Proof of language proficiency (for students applying to the MSc in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences or the PhD in Population Health)

Mandatory courses in the program are offered in English or French at the discretion of the professor. You must be able to understand both official languages, spoken and written. Students may express themselves and write assignments in the official language of their choice. To meet the language proficiency admission requirement, you must submit evidence of oral and written comprehension (passive comprehension) of the official language in which you are less fluent.  For example, if the language in which you are most fluent is French, you must submit proof of language proficiency in English, and vice versa.

Examples of documents you can submit to meet this requirement are:

• Copy of a high school, college, university or other transcript in the second language
• Copy of proof of successful completion of an immersion program
• Copy of a second language certification
• Copy of a language proficiency or bilingualism test taken outside the University of Ottawa (e.g. government, DELF-DALF, TOEFL, IELTS)
• Email from supervisor or co-supervisor who can attest you are bilingual

Upload a PDF copy of one of these documents (or other proof) to your admission file by logging into uoZone and selecting the uoDoc app.

If you cannot provide proof of language proficiency, you must pass the University of Ottawa Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute language test.  Learn more about the language test.

International applicants

If your first language is neither English nor French, you must pass an IELTS/TOEFL language test (or equivalent) in addition to completing the steps above.  To see the minimum scores required, see the admission program requirements for your program.

Note: You are responsible for the cost of language proficiency tests.

Once you have chosen your program, you must submit your online application through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC).

You must create a OUAC account with a username and secure password first. The application to uOttawa will then take approximately an hour to complete. Make sure that you have checked the application deadline for your program before you submit your application.

The Ontario Universities’ Application Centre will transfer your application to the University of Ottawa once it has processed your application fee. The transfer can take between a few days to a week.

Once you have submitted your application and it has been transferred to uOttawa, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access uoZone. Save this message — it contains your student number, uoAccess ID and password to access the uoZone student portal and track the progress of your application.

You can upload your required documents, submit the names of your referees and track the status of your application through the uoZone portal.    

Follow these steps to access your admission file: 

• Go to the “Current Students” page.
• Select “Log in to uoZone.” 
• Enter your uoAccess ID and password. 
• Select Login. 

If you have difficulty accessing your account, go to the Information Technology Student Zone. 

Enter the name and email address of your referees in the “Admission File” application of your uoZone portal. An automated email will be sent to these individuals who will be prompted to fill out an electronic reference form for your application. 

Referees should provide you with professional email addresses rather than personal email addresses from Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail accounts. References must be submitted in English or French. 

Once you have logged into your uoZone, select the Applications tab to access the uoDoc: Upload Admissions Documents application, where you can upload your documents. 

Upload a full set of documents for each program you are applying to. We also suggest you follow these instructions:  

• To learn more on how to upload and submit your documents, see the video in section 8 of the Graduate studies: How to apply page.
• Do not upload all your supporting documents as one file. Each checklist item must have one matching file. If not, your application will be considered incomplete. Any documents received other than those required are disregarded. 
• Convert your documents to PDF format (recommended). 
• File names cannot include parentheses ( ), quotation marks (“…”) or any other special characters. 
• Keep file names short and descriptive of the content. 
• Separate words with an underscore (_). 
• Preview your documents since you cannot edit or delete them once submitted. 
• In addition to PDF files, you can upload .doc, .docx, .jpeg, .jpg, and .txt files. 

Please note that we can request any other document necessary to evaluate your admission file. 

The evaluation process starts once we have received all required documents. You are responsible for ensuring that the University receives all these documents on time.

Thank you for applying to the University of Ottawa. You can now track the status of your application through your uoZone account, where you can also view and accept or refuse an offer of admission (if applicable).