Advanced standing (transfer credits)

This page contains information about advanced standing, also known as transfer credits, based on the curriculum and level of education you’ve completed.

Please note: At uOttawa, credits are referred to as “units.”

How we evaluate advanced standing

Your advanced standing depends on several factors:

  • The courses and curriculum you’ve completed or attempted
  • Your final grade in those courses
  • The program you’re entering at uOttawa
  • The requirements of that program

We assess what units you can transfer for advanced standing only after you’ve accepted your offer of admission.

important information icon

This page is to be used for information purposes only.

Advanced standing policies can change without notice. You might not receive the advanced standing (transfer credits) as listed on this page.
We reserve the right to not offer advanced standing in some cases.

Receiving advanced standing

Your institution must be accredited or recognized by your country’s ministry of education. If your institution isn’t on our list of recognized institutions, you must submit proof of accreditation.

To receive your bachelor’s degree, you must complete more than half the units of your program at the University of Ottawa. We can only grant you advanced standing for less than half the units you require for your bachelor’s.

Some programs don’t offer advanced standing:

  • Political Science and Juris Doctor
  • Dual fast-track programs in health sciences

We don’t grant advanced standing in a bachelor’s program for graduate courses (master’s, PhD, etc.) you’ve taken.

Transfer credits (units) will be posted under Academic Advisement in uoZone, and you will receive a revised offer of admission.

Understanding the advanced standing you’ve received

Once you’ve accepted your offer of admission, the Admissions Office will make an initial assessment of your advanced standing.

You’ll receive a revised offer of admission. Log into your uoZone account and download the revised offer to see your advanced standing and read all the information pertinent to it. You don’t have to accept our revised offer even if you accepted our original offer.

When assessing your advanced standing, the Admissions Office or your school or faculty may grant you credits (units) for the following:

  • Specific courses: for example, CRM 1301 or FRA 1720
  • Any courses in a certain discipline at a certain level: for example, BIO 1XXX or MAT 2XXX
  • Optional courses: OPT 1XXX, OPT 2XXX, OPT 3XXX or OPT 4XXX

Optional courses count towards your elective courses. If we don’t have specific descriptions of courses you’ve taken, we’ll recognize your prior learning by granting you OPT course units. If so, this will be on your offer of admission.

We grant you advanced standing based on what we believe would be most advantageous in your program. Please note that you can substitute certain courses if you choose a second discipline or request a change of program. For substitution requests, contact your faculty.

Engineering students: Advanced standing is normally granted for non-engineering courses. You can make a request for advanced standing for specific engineering courses through the Faculty of Engineering.

High school students

The University of Ottawa doesn’t grant advanced standing for high school courses except for the following curriculums:

  • Advanced Placement courses (AP)
  • French Baccalaureate recognized by the AEFE
  • International Baccalaureate (IB)

Students entering uOttawa for first year who’ve taken courses in one of the above curriculums may be eligible for advanced standing. Advanced standing is automatically assessed when we receive your official final grades in the summer.

The maximum number of units we grant varies depending on your program.

CEGEP students

You can receive up to 15 credits (units) if you’ve passed 12 CEGEP courses.

If you’ve completed more than 12 CEGEP courses, you can receive up to 30 units, which usually represents one year of university study.

Faculty Number of units

Arts

Sciences

Social Sciences

Telfer School Management

Up to 30 units
Engineering

For Computer Science : Up to 30 units
For other disciplines: Very limited advanced standing

Health Sciences

For Nursing: Up to 21 units
For Dietetics: Very limited advanced standing
For other disciplines: Up to 30 units

Law (Civil Law Section) Up to 9 units for graduates of a technical legal program

Canadian college transfer students

You may be eligible for advanced standing:

  • If you’ve completed a two- or three-year diploma program at a college of applied arts and technology in Ontario.
  • If you’ve completed four terms (two years) of full-time study in a Canadian college diploma program, depending on the program you’re applying to, as per the table below.

If you’re in a bachelor’s program, see the “University transfer students” section.

If you’re applying after one year of college in a certificate or diploma program, we won’t grant you advanced standing.

Faculties that grant advanced standing do so based on your discipline, courses completed and length of studies

Faculty

Number of units

Arts, Science and Social Sciences

Up to 30 units

Telfer School of Management

With a two or three-year non-business diploma: Up to 15 units
With a two-year management diploma: Up to 30 units
With a three-year management diploma: Up to 45 units

Engineering

For Computer Science: Up to 30 units
For other disciplines: Very limited advanced standing

Health Sciences

For Nursing: Up to 21 units
For other disciplines: Up to 30 units

The University of Ottawa has agreements with certain colleges. If you’re applying from one of these colleges, our agreement may affect your advanced standing

University transfer students

You must declare all studies you’ve attempted or completed on your OUAC application to qualify for advanced standing. Failure to do so is considered academic fraud.

If you’re seeking advanced standing for a specific course, you must submit a detailed course syllabus.

You must have a minimum grade of 60% to be granted advanced standing. This doesn’t apply to students transferring from Carleton University or Saint Paul University (who require 50%).

Please note that you require a minimum grade of 65% for Nutrition (NUT) and Nursing (NSG) courses.

You must submit detailed course descriptions for us to assess your advanced standing. If you don’t submit course descriptions (when required) by the end of your first term, you’ll be considered to have declined the credits (units).

Your course syllabus or outline must include the following information:

  • University name where you took the course
  • University subject
  • Course code (if applicable)
  • Credit value and/or number of hours
  • Academic year the course was taken

You may be eligible for up to 30 units of advanced standing for the courses you’ve completed depending on your program requirements.

Current uOttawa students transferring from one program to another have the courses related to the new program transferred automatically.

All courses you’ve passed at uOttawa, as well as any advanced standing you had received related to this program, are automatically applied towards your program requirements, subject to University and/or faculty policies.

You can explore the My Academic Requirements application in uoZone before the enrolment period.

To take one or more courses at a university with which the University of Ottawa has no formal agreement, you must have a letter of permission from your faculty. You can find more information about the general policy on credit (unit) transfers.

To receive a degree from the University of Ottawa, you must complete at least 50% of your program requirements at uOttawa. You must also meet all specific program requirements.