Where can you study nursing in Ontario straight from Grade 12, and what average do you need?

Applying to nursing in Ontario: every campus, every route

Updated August 22, 2026

Twenty-one programs at fifteen campuses admit to a BScN directly from Grade 12. Published ranges run from a 70% minimum to 90%+ — but on the campuses that publish a minimum, the real bar sits well above it, and they say so on their own pages. The full list, and what each campus actually requires, is below.

programs from Grade 12

campuses

70–90%

published floors

campuses with none

Every nursing program you can apply to from Grade 12

Sorted by the range each publishes, lowest first. The programs with the lowest published numbers are not the easiest to get into — read the next section before you rank by this list.

The published minimum is not the bar

Four campuses publish a minimum rather than a range, and every one of them says on its own site that the minimum is not what gets you in:

Windsor lists 70%. Its nursing page: “an 85% average is recommended for the top 6 Grade 12 U or M courses, along with a minimum average of 80% in Grade 12 U Biology and Grade 12 U Chemistry” — and calls it “a very competitive program.”
Lakehead lists 70–80%. Its page: high school “admits are required to achieve an admission average of at least 80%.”
Nipissing says it in the listing itself: “Min. 70%. Maximum 96 students. The admission average in 2026 was mid 80s.”
Trent lists 75%, and its wording is “to be considered for acceptance” — a floor for consideration, not an admit average.

Apply on the number the university’s own nursing page gives, not the one in the listing. Across the province the realistic bar for direct-entry nursing is mid-80s and up; at McMaster, TMU and Ottawa it is 85–90%+.

Collaborative, second-entry, and the two-codes trap

Collaborative with a college

Several BScN programs are delivered with a college partner. The degree is the university’s; where you sit for lectures varies. At Ontario Tech (with Durham College) and Lakehead (with Confederation) you stay on one campus all four years. At Trent (with Fleming) the program is integrated. At McMaster there are two sites under two codes — the McMaster site (MN) and the Mohawk College site (MNM) — both “admission by selection” with a minimum of 85% for consideration.

The two-codes trap: TMU

TMU nursing has two OUAC codes for the same BScN, ten points apart. Nursing at TMU (SNX) is 90%+ and you spend four years at TMU. Nursing at Centennial College (SNN) is 85–90%: in TMU’s words, college-campus students “complete the first two years of their studies at the college and the final two years at the TMU campus,” and “all students ultimately earn a BScN from TMU.” Same degree, same licensing exam, lower bar. A student who only knows about SNX may never apply. Apply to both.

Second-entry only

U of T has no nursing code for a Grade 12 applicant. The Bloomberg BScN is second-entry: two years of another degree first, then apply. York’s second-degree and internationally-educated codes are the same idea and are not for you yet.

Not offered at all

U of T (St. George), U of T (Mississauga), Guelph, Laurier (Waterloo), Algoma have no nursing program — confirmed against each university’s own listing, not assumed.

What the researched campuses actually require

For the 18 campuses we have researched in depth, the entry route, the range, and how you get in. Each row links to the full page with the university’s own wording — including citizenship gates (York), compressed three-year options (Carleton, Lakehead) and required courses.

Campus	You apply to	Range	How
Lakehead	Nursing (Thunder Bay)published minimum is below the real bar — see page	70–80%	Direct entry
Nipissing	Bachelor of Science in Nursingpublished minimum is below the real bar — see page	70–87%	Direct entry
Windsor	Nursingpublished minimum is below the real bar — see page	70%	Direct entry
Laurentian	Nursing	75%	Direct entry
Trent	Nursingpublished minimum is below the real bar — see page	75%	Direct entry
Carleton	Nursing with RN Prescribing	82–85%	Direct entry
Brock	Nursing	83–87%	Direct entry
Ontario Tech	Nursing - Collaborative	83–90%	Direct entry
McMaster	Nursing I (McMaster University Site)	85%	Direct entry
Queen's	Nursing	87–90%	Direct entry
Western	Nursing	87–93%	Direct entry
York	Nursing (Direct Entry) - BScN	87–90%	Direct entry
TMU	Nursing at TMU	90%	Direct entry
Algoma	not offered at Algoma	—	Not offered
Guelph	not offered at the University of Guelph	—	Not offered
Laurier (Waterloo)	not offered at Laurier	—	Not offered
U of T (Mississauga)	not offered at UTM	—	Not offered
U of T (St. George)	Bachelor of Science in Nursing (second-entry, Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing)	—	No Grade 12 route — see page

The courses every nursing program wants

ENG4U, SBI4U and SCH4U nearly everywhere, and a Grade 12 U math at most — Advanced Functions at Carleton and York, “one 4U math” at Trent and Lakehead. Windsor wants 80% in Biology and Chemistry specifically, not just in the average. If you are in Grade 11 now, those four courses are the ones to protect. What else needs SBI4U.