If you’re an international student admitted to an undergraduate program or to a graduate certificate or graduate diploma program, you need to pay an admission deposit to confirm your place in the program you’ve been admitted to. This deposit will be credited toward your tuition fees once you enrol.

The standard admission deposit is $2,000 for undergraduate programs and $1,000 for graduate certificate and diploma programs. Some programs may require a different amount.

Your offer of admission will clearly state the exact deposit amount you need to pay.

You’ll need to pay an admission deposit if you’ve been admitted to an undergraduate or a graduate certificate or diploma program at uOttawa and you’re:

• an international student paying international tuition fees
• an applicant for permanent residency in Canada
• an international dependant of a Canadian permanent resident
• an international dependant of a Canadian citizen
• an international dependant of a person with refugee status in Canada
• an international employee at uOttawa
• an international dependant of a uOttawa employee

You won’t need to pay an international student admission deposit if you’re:

• an international student admitted to a Master's or a PhD program
• a Canadian citizen
• a permanent resident of Canada
• a person with Convention refugee or protected person status in Canada
• an exchange student coming to uOttawa through an official exchange program
• a member of the diplomatic community
• an international dependant of diplomatic personnel
• a member of the armed forces

Note: You might still need to pay a deposit if it’s a requirement for your program of study.

Accept your offer of admission before paying your deposit. Deposit payments should be made only after you’ve accepted your offer.

The deadline to pay the deposit is indicated in your offer of admission.

Make sure you submit your payment early enough to allow for processing time before the deposit deadline. If you’re paying your deposit from outside Canada, it could take up to 14 business days for the payment to be received and processed.

Important: You will not be able to enrol in courses, and your provincial attestation letter (PAL) will not be issued, until we’ve received your deposit payment. Processing times for study permits are currently long. For this reason, we strongly recommend paying your deposit as soon as possible so you can receive your PAL and apply for your study permit without delay.

If you request to defer your admission to the next available term for your program and we accept the request, we’ll hold your deposit and apply it to your tuition when you enrol at uOttawa.

Note: If you don’t qualify for a deferral or we reject your deferral request, and you choose to reapply to uOttawa for the next intake, you might be eligible to have your admission deposit transferred. This only applies if you reapply and use your provincial attestation letter to apply for a study permit within the same calendar year (for example, if you don’t start your studies at uOttawa in the fall term and reapply for the winter term). If you reapply for a later intake in the following calendar year, you’ll need to make a new deposit payment.

Once you receive and accept your new offer of admission, email us at [email protected], and we’ll arrange to transfer your deposit to the new intake.

Undergraduate students: please visit our webpage for more information on the deferral process. 

Graduate students: please contact your academic unit for details about their deferral process.

Some uOttawa programs require an admission deposit to confirm your offer of admission. This deposit is typically needed for professional programs and some graduate programs. 

Your offer of admission will outline the details of any required deposit, including the amount, payment methods and deadline. 

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact:

• InfoAdmission (undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education).
• Your faculty (undergraduate students in Common Law).
• Your academic unit (graduate students).

Your admission deposit is non-refundable, unless Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) rejects your study permit application. To qualify for a refund, you must provide proof that your study permit application has been rejected.

Do not request a refund if: 

• Your study permit was rejected and you plan to submit a new study permit application. You can request a new PAL by emailing our Student Immigration Advising team at [email protected].
• Your study permit was rejected and you plan to reapply to uOttawa within the same calendar year. You’ll receive a new PAL automatically after accepting your new offer of admission. You can use that PAL to submit another study permit application.

We will issue a refund if:

• IRCC has rejected your study permit application, and you’ve provided proof of the rejection.

We will not issue a refund if:

• You’re still awaiting a decision from IRCC on your study permit application.
• Your study permit application has been rejected due to misrepresentation or fraud.
• You no longer wish to attend uOttawa.
• Your offer of admission has been withdrawn due to not meeting the conditions of admission

How and when to request a refund

To request a refund of your admission deposit, you need to:

• fill out the refund request form
• upload proof of your study permit rejection

You must request your refund by the last day to enrol for the term when you’ve been admitted.