University of Ottawa

How Ottawa actually handles things

From the OUAC’s Guidance Dialogues Resource Guide (Spring 2026), which OUAC publishes for guidance counsellors rather than students. Read the original. Policies change — confirm anything you’re about to act on.

If you repeat a course

Which mark they use when you take a course twice.

We use the highest grade to calculate the average.

Summer school, night school, e-learning and private school

Whether courses taken outside your regular day school are treated the same.

We treat all courses taken through a Ministry-inspected and approved institution as equal for the purpose of calculating an admission average.

Your Grade 11 marks

Whether they look at Grade 11, and when.

We consider final Grade 11 grades in the first 2 rounds of admission and for automatic admission scholarships. Supplemental Application

Acting: Audition and letter of motivation • Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Design • Experiential Learning: Portfolio and Interview • Bachelor of Music and Music and Science Dual Fast Track Degree: Audition • Dietetics option: Language proficiency test • Visual Arts: Portfolio Ranking on OUAC Application

No impact on admission but could be considered for students on a waitlist. Tuition Deposit

$2,000 tuition fee deposit for international students. • $1,000 deposit for English Intensive Program. First-year Course Selection Process

Enrollment support: www.uottawa.ca/course-enrolment/enrolment-support Support for Transition to University

Regional mentors: www.uottawa.ca/get-started/regional-mentoring-centre

Automatic entrance scholarships

Money you get for your average without applying for it.

Admission Scholarship ($1,000-$3,000): Awarded automatically to Canadian students with 85-100% admission averages.

International English Admission Scholarship ($15,000 per year): Awarded automatically to international students enrolled in an English language bachelor's program in a direct-entry faculty and admitted with an average of at least 80%.

International English Academic Excellence Scholarship ($10,000, renewable): 100 scholarships for international students who have 90% on their average will be considered.

The 2 English International Scholarships can be combined.

Scholarship deadlines

March 31, 2026, unless noted otherwise.

Bursaries

New scholarship search portal: www.uottawa.syntosolution.com/general-directory.

French Studies Bursary ($1,000 per year): Awarded automatically to Canadian students taking at least 3 courses taught in French per term (2 if enrolled in French Immersion Stream).

Bursary for Postsecondary Studies in French as a Second Language ($3,000). Application due: March 31, 2026.

Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship for international students studying in French or French Immersion (between $25,000 and $36,000 per year).

Special consideration

If something happened that affected your marks.

Eligible candidates can complete a Declaration of Personal Experience, which will be included in their admission file and which we may consider in the evaluation of their admission application. www2.uottawa.ca/study/undergraduate-studies/ declaration-personal-experience

For other special circumstances, students should submit all supporting documentation through uoDoc in uoZone.

Deferring your offer

Taking a year before you start.

We review requests on a case-by-case basis. • The student must not attend any educational institution (including high school) during the deferral period.

AP and IB

AP: Students may receive up to 30 credits (10 one-term courses) of advanced standing for AP courses, provided they obtain a minimum score of 4 in each subject.

IB: Students are eligible for admission if they have completed or are in the process of completing the program with a score of at least 29 and have the prerequisites for their program. Note: The required score may be higher for certain programs. Students may receive transfer credits for Higher Level subjects with a score of 5 or higher.

We grant transfer credits upon receipt of final grades.

Changing programs

Multidisciplinary Design - Experiential Learning (4 years). The 3-year version is still available after first year as a program change option.

Co-op is now available in Food Sciences. • Nursing will now only be offered on the main Ottawa campus. As of fall 2026, we will no longer offer the Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing in collaboration with Algonquin College. • The Visual Arts major (Bachelor of Arts) is no longer available through the OUAC application. It can only be added after the first year. The Visual Arts specialization (Bachelor of Fine Arts) is still available for admission.

Transfer credit

Depends on the program and on an individual basis. • The applicant must meet the minimum requirements for possible admission to the program. • The applicant must accept the offer of admission.

English proficiency

We accept: Duolingo, IELTS, TOEFL. www.uottawa.ca/study/undergraduate-studies/ language-requirements

English 4U or Fran•ais 4U is a language prerequisite for all programs.

If a student is applying for an English-language program and hasn't completed at least 3 years of full-time study at an institution where English is the only language of instruction (excluding language courses) in a country where English is an official language, they must submit their official score electronically directly from the test centre to be considered for admission or conditional admission.

Conditional offers to the English Intensive program are automatically granted based on the submitted test results.

Students are allowed to update results if available.