How does transfer credit work at Ontario universities?

Every university assesses transfer credit individually and most cap how much will carry. The limits below matter most if you are coming from college or restarting after a year elsewhere.

Every answer below is what the university tells Ontario guidance counsellors, quoted from the OUAC guide for September 2026 entry. It isn’t published on their student pages. Rules like this change rarely; dates don’t — check any date here with the university. Where this comes from.

What each of the 23 universities says

Algoma University

We offer a generous transfer credit policy to students with previous university or college education. www.algomau.ca/transfers-pathways

For more information, email: pathways@algomau.ca.

Brock University

Where possible, we recognize previously completed postsecondary studies.

For more information, contact 905-688-5550, ext. 4293, or futurestudent@brocku.ca.

Carleton University

https://admissions.carleton.ca/apply/transfer-credit

Lakehead University

We will consider college applicants with 1 complete year of full-time study with a minimum of 70% for transfer credit.

We will consider universitylevel coursework with a minimum 60% for transfer credit.

Transfer credits are automatically considered at the point of admission. www.lakeheadu.ca/studentcentral/applying/ general-admission-requirements

Laurentian University

Students may be eligible for transfer credits following the completion of a college diploma or any university studies. We will determine transfer credits once a student has applied and submitted official transcripts.

McMaster University

https://future.mcmaster.ca/university-transfer-student

Nipissing University

www.nipissingu.ca/transfer-college-or-university

OCAD University

Details on our transfer pathways, transfer credit policies, upper-year entry consideration, articulation agreements and other requirements are available at: https://admissions.ocadu.ca/apply/transfer-options.

Ontario Tech University

https://admissions.ontariotechu.ca/transfercredit/equivalencydatabase/index.php

College-to-university transfer programs: www.ontariotechu.ca/pathways

Queen's University

First-year students who have taken courses during high school that may be eligible for transfer credit must apply for credit no later than the end of the fall term of their first year.

Students who complete AP or IB courses will automatically be assessed during the summer for transfer credit if they authorize for their official results to be released to Queen's.

Royal Military College of Canada

We may grant transfer credits where the course material is within 80% of a course RMC offers. We determine this after the student receives an offer of admission. While transfer credits may lighten a student's course load, they will not reduce the amount of time at RMC. All degrees are a minimum of 4 years.