Cutoffs

Early offers from Ontario universities: who gets them, and when each one starts

Updated August 22, 2026

Some universities start offering in November, on Grade 11 and first-semester marks; some run a first round in December; McMaster's first round is late February and U of T's monthly rounds begin in January. Whether you can get an offer before the winter break depends on which campus you applied to and whether it reads Grade 11 at all. Every university's own timing, below.

What an early offer actually is

An early offer is a conditional offer made before your final Grade 12 marks exist — on your Grade 11 marks, your first-semester Grade 12 midterms, or both. It is real, it is yours to accept, and it is conditional: every university says the same thing in its own words, that the offer stands only if you finish the year with the average and the courses it names. An early offer does not let you coast. It lets you stop worrying.

Whether you can get one depends on two things the universities decide separately: whether they look at Grade 11 at all, and when they run their rounds. Both are below, from the universities’ own answers to guidance counsellors.

Who starts when

Grouped by the earliest month each university names. Two universities, Windsor and York, give no answer on timing at all; their Grade 11 policy is still on the Grade 11 page.

The rounds, in their words

Some universities run named rounds; most say “rolling” and mean they decide whenever OUAC sends a new batch of grades. Read your own targets. The counsellor guide these come from was written for last cycle, so where an answer names a 2025 or 2026 date it is marked — the pattern repeats each year; the exact date will not.

  • Algoma University

    We issue offers of admission on an ongoing basis to students who meet the admission requirements based on their Grade 11 and/or first-semester Grade 12 grades.

    Algoma University Access Program available for all students. https://algomau.ca/admissions/admissions-requirements/ algoma-university-access-program

  • Brock University

    We may extend select offers of admission as early as November, as we receive applications.

  • Carleton University

    We make offers of admission on a rolling basis.

    Each time we receive grades from the OUAC, we reassess to determine eligibility.

  • Lakehead University

    We review applications and extend offers of admission on a rolling basis. Students can review their offers via our student portal.

  • Laurentian University

    We use the best six 4U/M courses for admission.

    The latest date all high school applicants can expect a response from us is May 28, 2026.last cycle’s date

  • McMaster University

    First Round: Late February to early March. Based on 4U/M grades available as of the end of February. Students must present a minimum of 3 courses with final grades and registration in any remaining required courses (for a minimum of 6 enrolled courses), or 6 interim grades, including all required courses, to be completed by June 30, 2026. o Note: Some by-selection programs will not make offers during this round.last cycle’s date

    Second Round: Late April to early May. Based on six 4U/M courses, including all required courses available as of early May. Where students are unable to present grades for six 4U/M courses, we will assess them on the available grades, provided they are registered in any outstanding courses with a completion date of June 30, 2026.last cycle’s date

  • Nipissing University

    Offers of admission are made on a rolling basis as grade information is received, with most decisions being released within the following admission rounds: o Round #1

    Beginning of December o Round #2

    Beginning of March o Round #3

    Beginning of May o A final round will take place at the end of July provided space remains in the programs the applicant has applied to.

  • OCAD University

    We make the majority of offers of admission by the beginning of April based on the portfolio submission (for studio-based programs) or writing assignments (for the Bachelor of Arts program).

    All offers of admission are conditional upon meeting minimum academic entrance requirements.

    The deadline to respond to offers of admission is June 1, 2026.last cycle’s date

  • Ontario Tech University

    We will send the majority of offers by the end of April 2026. We make conditional offers on a rolling basis beginning in late fall of the previous year.last cycle’s date

    We will continually review applications as updated documents and/or transcripts are received.

    We will evaluate late applications based on space availability. Applicants can submit their application after the deadline but will be subject to availability.

  • Queen's University

    Students should add Queen's (@queensu.ca) to their safe senders list as soon as they apply. We will send acknowledgement of application(s), as well as offer(s) of admission, only via email.

    We make offers on a rolling basis from November to mid-May. Final decisions will be communicated by May 15, 2026.last cycle’s date

  • Royal Military College of Canada

    We normally make offers of admission in April or May.

    Upon entering the Royal Military College (RMC), all students must provide their final official transcripts to the Office of the Registrar.

  • Saint Paul University

    We began making offers for the fall 2026 admission cycle in November 2025.last cycle’s date

  • Toronto Metropolitan University

    We started releasing offers in November and will continue on a rolling basis. We make the majority of admission decisions between February and the end of May.

    Applicants can view all communications and admission decisions in their ChooseTMU Applicant Portal at: https://torontomu.ca/choosetmu.

  • Trent University

    Offers of admission begin in December and continue on a rolling basis.

  • University of Guelph

    We will make offers of admission on an ongoing basis from January to May.

    Bachelor of Landscape Architecture offers will be sent in May.

    Students have until June 1, 2026, to respond in their OUAC application.last cycle’s date

    All offers of admission are conditional. Specific admission conditions are outlined in offer emails. www.uoguelph.ca/admission/undergraduate/apply/conditions

  • University of Guelph-Humber

    We will consider students for all programs they apply to.

    Offers of admission will go out prior to May 28, 2026.last cycle’s date

    Students will have until June 1, 2026, to respond to their offer in their OUAC Undergraduate application.last cycle’s date

    All offers of admission are conditional. Specific admission conditions are outlined in the offer.

  • University of Ottawa

    Offers go out in 3 rounds: 1. December to February

    based on top five 3U/M and/or 4U/M final grades. 2. Mid-February to May

    based on top six 3U/M and/or 4U/M final grades; must include at least two 4U/M grades and prerequisites must be in progress. 3. Mid-May to July

    based on top six 4U/M final and interim grades, including prerequisites.

    Some programs offer winter and summer admission. www.uottawa.ca/study/undergraduate-studies/ application-deadlines-available-programs-canadian

  • University of Toronto — St. George

    We make conditional offers of admission in monthly rounds, beginning in January (select programs) and concluding in May.

    We may invite current Ontario high school applicants to some programs to join a wait list if we cannot make an offer of admission due to space limitations. All responses, whether an offer of admission, a refusal or a wait list invitation, will be published by May 28, 2026. We encourage current Ontario high school applicants to accept the best offer available to them by the June 1 deadline.last cycle’s date

  • University of Waterloo

    We make admission decisions between January and May once updated grades are received from high schools. We include all required courses when evaluating a student's admission average.

    All offers of admission are conditional upon completing OSSD and maintaining the grades indicated in a student's offer of admission.

    All applicants must complete a Declaration of Academic Experience once we have acknowledged their application.

  • Western University

    We will offer admission to Group A applicants throughout the admission cycle from November 2025 until May 2026.last cycle’s date

    If a student is taking a prerequisite in later terms, they must show in their OUAC application that they are enrolled in the course for us to evaluate their application.

    All offers are conditional upon maintaining the final average indicated on the offer of admission, successfully completing the Ontario Secondary School Diploma and meeting any additional admission conditions outlined at the time of an offer.

  • Wilfrid Laurier University — Waterloo

    We will make offers by May 28, 2026. Students must respond by June 1, 2026, at 11:59 pm (ET).last cycle’s date

Quoted from the OUAC guide for guidance counsellors, September 2026 entry. Each university links to its deadlines page, where this year’s dates are kept apart from last year’s.

What decides whether you are in the first round

Your Grade 11 marks, at the universities that use them

The universities that start in November and December are, by definition, deciding on Grade 11 and first-semester midterms — there is nothing else to decide on. If your Grade 11 year was strong, those are the campuses where applying the week OUAC opens can produce an offer before the winter break. If it was weak, nothing is lost: every one of them re-reads you when Grade 12 grades arrive.

Every university’s Grade 11 policy, verbatim.

Which programs are held back

McMaster says outright that “some by-selection programs will not make offers during this round” — the programs that need a supplementary application decide later, after they have read it. Brock’s own page says competitive programs such as Nursing and Concurrent Education “may not issue early offers.” If your first choice carries a supplementary, a quiet December is normal, not a signal.

When your school sends grades

Universities cannot decide on marks they have not received. OUAC’s schedule has schools filing first-semester grades in November and universities receiving them about two weeks later — the exact dates, with which direction each one runs, are on the deadlines page.

Early does not mean binding. The response deadline for every Ontario offer is June 1, 2027 — the same day whether your offer arrived in November or May. Accept nothing in December you would not accept in June; the offer will wait.

What to do with this

  1. 1
    Check each target’s deadlines page for when it decides and whether its programs print their own dates — McMaster, York and Nipissing do.
  2. 2
    If your Grade 11 was strong and a target starts in November or December, apply the week OUAC opens in mid-September. There is no queue, but there is a first batch.
  3. 3
    If a target starts in January or later, the date you apply changes nothing before then. Use the autumn on the supplementary applications instead — those close early. Which programs want more than marks.
  4. 4
    Treat every early offer as conditional on the average it names. Your first-semester finals and second-semester midterms still go to the universities, and an offer can be withdrawn if the condition is missed.

No timing answer in the guide from Windsor and York; their Grade 11 policies are on the Grade 11 page above.

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