The University of Ottawa offers microprograms, graduate diplomas, short duration master’s and master’s programs and doctoral programs. Explore our many programs and decide on the one that's right for you.

Application deadlines vary by program and can be as early as 10 months before the first term begins. Use the program-specific requirements online tool to check the application deadlines and be sure to submit your application before the deadline for your program.

If you are an international student, we recommend you apply as soon as possible, because it can take six months or more to obtain a study permit, depending on your country.

Be sure to submit all required documents before or by the date required. We cannot guarantee that any applications submitted after the specified deadline will be accepted.

Basic requirements

Master’s and graduate diploma programs:

• Hold an honours bachelor’s degree (4 years) with an average of 70%, or B (calculated using your last 20 courses)

Doctoral programs:

• Hold a master’s degree with an average of 75%, or B+ (calculated using your last 10 courses)

Additional requirements

Some programs have additional requirements, including higher grades, additional documentation and testing. Use the program-specific requirements online tool to get more information. Note that some programs are highly competitive and meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

Supporting documents required can vary depending on the program. Use the program-specific requirements online tool to check the documents required for your program and gather them. You can find instructions about how to submit your documents under Step 7. 

Information regarding transcripts:

• If you have ever studied at the University of Ottawa, you do not need to submit your University of Ottawa transcripts unless you are applying to the audiology, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology or occupational therapy program.
• If have studied at post-secondary institutions other than the University of Ottawa, you must upload these academic records to the student portal. See step 7 for more information on uploading documents.
• 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. You must also submit a copy of your transcripts in the original language as an English or French translation alone is not sufficient.
• If the transcript does not clearly indicate that your degree has been conferred, you must upload a copy of the degree, certificate or diploma.
• All transcripts and degrees will be verified for authenticity.
• If you receive an offer of admission, you will need to request an official copy of all your transcripts. These transcripts will have to be sent to the University of Ottawa directly from your previous institutions.

Most programs require letters of recommendation. These are an important part of your application file, so be sure to think carefully about the individuals who would be best placed to provide you with a letter of recommendation.

Use the program-specific requirements online tool to find out how many letters of recommendation are required for your program.

We recommend you contact your referees two to three weeks before you are ready to apply in order to confirm they would be willing to provide you with a letter of recommendation and to get their email address and current job title. The information about the individuals providing letters of recommendation is entered in uoZone, the student portal.

Additional information regarding letters of recommendation:

• Unless the application requirements for your program states 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 the individuals 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.
• It is helpful to provide the individuals with a deadline in order to ensure they submit their letters of recommendation before the application deadline. Your application will not be considered complete (and thus not 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.
• It’s best to provide academic or work email addresses for those providing letters of recommendation. Email address from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc. are discouraged.

Submitting your letters of reference

Once you have submitted your application and it has been transferred to uOttawa’s servers, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access uoZone, where you will be able to enter the name of your referees.

You must understand the language of the program you are applying for (English or French) and speak it fluently. As well, you must provide, on request, your results in one of the University of Ottawa-approved language proficiency tests. If you have received a postsecondary diploma in the language of instruction of your program, you may be exempt from having to provide such results.

Below are examples of equivalent results for the tests most often used to assess admission requests. To know the minimum result you require for a program, see the specific requirements.

English language tests

French language tests

For more information on language proficiency requirements, contact your academic unit.

The admissions committee reserves the right to request proof of proficiency in the program’s language of instruction, if it deems necessary.

The following tests are also accepted: MELAB, CAEL, Cambridge English Language Assessment, Pearson, Bridging (ESL500).

Once you have submitted your application and it has been transferred to uOttawa’s servers, you will receive an email with instructions on how to access uoZone. Once you have logged in, you must go in the "Applications" section to have access to the uoDoc: Upload Admissions Documents application where you will be able to upload your documents.

You must upload a full set of documents for each program you are applying to, through uoZone, the student portal. Regarding filenames and file format, please respect the following instructions:

• We highly recommend that you convert your documents to PDF formats.
• File names cannot include parentheses ( ), quotations “ or any other special characters.
• Keep the file name short and relevant to its content.
• Separate words with an underscore ( _ ).
• Make sure to preview your document since you cannot edit or delete once it is submitted.
• In addition to the PDF files, you can upload .doc, .docx, .jpeg, .jpg, .txt files.

Important notice

Please do not upload all your supporting documents as one file. Each checklist item must have one matching document. If not, your application will be considered incomplete. Any documents received other than those required will be disregarded and deleted.

If you are applying to a master's program (with thesis or research paper) or to a doctoral program, you must choose a research supervisor.

For information about thesis supervision, visit the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website. The University of Ottawa also encourages you to visit the website of your academic unit of interest to learn more about professors approved to supervise graduate students.