You’ve received an offer of admission. Congratulations!

If you have been admitted, we’ll email once we’ve made a decision. 

• Read the PDF offer of admission in your admission file carefully.
• You’ll find information on your admission conditions, the average you must maintain and the deadline to accept your offer.
• Please note that we only assess and grant transfer credits after you accept your offer of admission.

Say “Yes”!

To accept your offer, follow the instructions in your admission file in uoZone. You must accept your offer of admission by the deadline indicated in the offer.

Pay your non-refundable admission deposit (if required)

If you’re an international student, you must pay a non-refundable admission deposit by the date specified in your admission offer in uoZone. The deposit amount will go towards your tuition fees for your admission term and it will be credited to your account when you enrol.

Your tuition deposit is non-refundable, except if your study permit application is rejected by IRCC. To qualify for a refund, you must provide proof your study permit application has been rejected. Once we’ve verified this, we’ll refund your deposit. You must request your refund by the last day to enrol for the term to which you’ve been admitted. We don’t grant refunds if you’re still awaiting a decision from IRCC regarding your study permit application.

When applying to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for a study permit, most international students must include an attestation letter issued by Ontario’s provincial government. The University of Ottawa guarantees provincial attestation letters for all international applicants who accept their offer of admission and pay the admission deposit by the deadline indicated on the offer.

Please note that deposits may take up to 14 days to process if the financial institution is outside Canada. Once we have received your payment, our Admissions Office will email you your attestation letter within approximately 3 working days.

While awaiting your provincial attestation letter, prepare the other documentsyou need to apply for a study permit.

• To study here, you must have your study permit from the Government of Canada before arriving here. Find out about the Government of Canada requirements to study in Canada.
• Before you arrive at uOttawa, check the Campus life and Current students websites.

Start planning your transition to the University of Ottawa

Here’s some information to help you through this transition.

Confirming your admission conditions

We begin confirming admission conditions in mid-July. To submit your final transcripts, follow the instructions on your offer of admission. Unless we receive your final results electronically, you must upload your final documents via uoDoc. All admission conditions can be verified based on the offer of admission.

Upload an official transcript containing your final results. Don’t upload a web link from an external platform or a copy from your student portal. Make sure that all pages are included. You’ll receive a confirmation email once we’ve verified all admission conditions.

We recognize that unusual circumstances can create change and uncertainty concerning your final results. Under these circumstances, we’ll continue to accept documents required for the verification of admission conditions for a two-week period after the deadline.

Except under exceptional circumstances, it is normally not possible to defer an offer of admission, as they are only valid for the program, year and term specified. As such, students who wish to be considered for an alternate year or term must submit a new application, fees and any new supporting documents.

However, if exceptional circumstances prevent you from starting your studies as planned, you may request a deferral of your offer of admission. Deferral requests may be granted for reasons including illness, mandatory military service or obtaining your study permit too late. They will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. 

The following criteria will need to apply:

• You must have accepted your offer of admission
• For international applicants, you must pay the non-refundable admission deposit and have received your study permit
• You must meet the final admission conditions of your offer
• You will not be attending any academic institution during the deferral period
• The deferral period does not extend more than 12 months
• Your program must be open for admission in the session for which you are requesting the deferral. Please check the list of available programs per session

The following programs are not eligible for deferral:

• Bachelor of Nursing
• Music (BMus)
• Visual Arts (major and B.F.A)
• Acting (B.F.A)
• Programs in Teacher Education

How to request a deferral and deadline

To request a deferral of admission, you have to complete our InfoAdmission web form. To do so :

• Select the Undergraduate studies or Faculty of Law - Civil law section depending on the program you are requesting the deferral for and then select Deferral Request.
• Explain the reasons for requesting the deferral and summarize your plans for the deferral period.

The deadline to submit your request is the same date as the last day to withdraw from a course and receive a financial credit.

Information about the evaluation process

Deferral requests will be evaluated once we have received your final transcript and confirmed you met your admission conditions.

If your request is accepted, we will confirm this by email and issue a new offer of admission once we start accepting applications for the entry point you selected.

If your original offer of admission included a scholarship, your eligibility for the scholarship with your deferred offer will be determined based on your final academic average and the regulations in effect for the year or term of your new offer of admission.

We reserve the right to refuse any deferral requests. There is no appeal process for deferral requests denied by our office, and all decisions are final.

Admission deferral request and obtaining your study permit

• Once you receive your admission offer, you need to accept it and pay the nonrefundable deposit. Once your deposit is paid, we will send you the provincial attestation letter. You should apply for your study permit immediately. We expect our students to be proactive and demonstrate accountability with their applications.
• If your study permit hasn’t been issued yet, wait to receive a favourable decision from IRCC before sending us your admission deferral request. Once your study permit is granted, send us the acceptance letter from IRCC when requesting your deferral.
• If your study permit is denied by IRCC, we won’t accept your deferral request. You’ll need to reapply in the future.
• We reserve the right to request any additional documents we consider relevant to evaluating your request.

Withdrawing from your courses

If you can’t begin your studies during the term for which you have been admitted, you must withdraw from your courses by the deadline to withdraw from a course . You will need to pay fees if you fail to withdraw from the courses you have registered to.

Tuition Fees

If you have already paid your tuition fees, here are the steps to request a refund:

• Log into uoZone
• Click on “Finances and jobs”
• Select “Refund request”
• For more information on tuition fees, please contact InfoService.

Housing

If you’ve reserved a place in residence, log into the Housing Portal to request the cancellation of your contract and, if applicable, a refund on your deposit. You’ll find the process to follow and the deadlines indicated.

Note: If you request a cancellation after August 15 (for a contract beginning in September) or November 30 (for a contract beginning in January), the University will invoice you for all residence contract fees unless you find an eligible student who accepts the conditions to take over your contract.

If you request a cancellation of your contract for medical reasons, you must immediately email your supporting documentation to [email protected].

If you have any questions, email [email protected].

If you weren’t admitted, and wish to re-apply, you must improve your academic record. Reasons for refusal are posted in your Admission File (available via uoZone).

If you need to retake a prerequisite course, you can do so in high school, college or university. 

If you were refused admission based on your admission average, see below for your next steps based on your level of studies when you applied.

I applied from high school or lycée

If you haven’t been admitted due to your high school or lycée grades, you can retake courses to improve your admission average. However, make sure you take courses that we use to calculate your admission average. To understand how we calculate your admission average, see our admission requirements. 

I applied from CEGEP

If you haven’t been admitted due to your CEGEP grades, you can take CEGEP-level courses to raise your admission average.

To understand how we calculate your admission average, see our admission requirements for CEGEP students.

Alternately, to show your potential to succeed in university, you can complete 24 university-level units (eight one-term undergraduate courses). You will then be evaluated based on these university courses.  

See our requirements for re-admission by faculty.

I applied from college

If you haven’t been admitted due to your college grades, you can demonstrate your potential to succeed in university by completing 24 university-level units (8 one-term undergraduate courses). You will then be evaluated based on these university courses. See our requirements for re-admission by faculty.

You can also complete a new two-year college program. To understand how we calculate your admission average, see our admission requirements for college students.

I applied from university

If you haven’t been accepted due to your university grades, you have several options to improve your academic record:

• If you wish to be admitted to the Faculty of Arts or Social Sciences, you can complete a two-year college program. Our decision will be based on your new college courses.
• If you wish to be admitted to the Telfer School of Management, you can complete a two-year college diploma in business. Our decision will be based on this new college diploma.
• For all other faculties, you must take some university courses. See the requirements for re-admission by faculty.
   

Admissions decisions are usually final. However, you can appeal a decision for the following reasons:

• Your grades have improved since you submitted your transcript.
• You have completed additional courses for which results are now available.
• You have submitted a missing document that might affect your admission.
• You have reason to believe there was an error in the decision process.

Appeal

If you would like to submit new information related to the reasons above, send it to the Admissions Office at [email protected]

An admission specialist will review the decision accordingly.

You cannot appeal our decision without a reason or based on decisions other applicants may have received.

There is no appeal process for the Faculty of Education.

You must file your appeal in writing as soon as possible providing relevant supporting documentation. 

Your appeal request may not be considered if the program has reached its quota, whether the ultimate decision is favorable to you or not.

• Email your letter of appeal to [email protected].
• Use the subject heading “Appealing an admission decision.”
• Include the following in your appeal letter:
  • your name, your student number and the name of the program for which you have applied
  • the reason for your appeal
  • the supporting documentation

You will receive the Appeals Committee decision in writing within 10 business days. The committee’s decision is final.