Warning! This is a long one…
- World class public research university
- Globally recognised degrees
- Canada’s oldest and largest university – 74,000+
- Consistently in the world Top 20
- Around 21% international students
- Alumni network in 190+ countries
- Graduates can apply for a postgraduate work permit for up to 3 years
Location
- One university with three campuses: St George, Mississauga and Scarborough
- Toronto is a very diverse and culturally rich city – a place where difference is celebrated
- ½ Toronto’s 2.8 million population was born outside of Canada
- Toronto is North America’s second largest financial district after NY
- 180+ languages and dialects spoken
- 500+ music venues / 90+ performing arts theatres / esteemed Toronto Film Festival
- Canada as a whole: safe, stable economic and political system, strong health care and education sectors, high quality of life, and many varied landscapes and activities to explore
- Canada is very welcoming to international students and numbers have steadily grown
- Four complete seasons: warm summers, but winter can be very cold and snowy
A brief overview of the 3 campuses:
The three campuses are located around an hour from each other and all offer the same high quality of degree and student experience. The difference is in the campus environment and personality, and also the academic programmes on offer.
Mississauga Campus
- Established in 1967
- 33km west of downtown
- Beautiful campus with lots of new buildings – has a modern feel, but in a protected greenbelt.
- Good for nature lovers! Deer spotting is a popular pastime.
- More relaxed and secluded vibe
- Some smaller classes – for some offers an easier transition from high school to university
- 2nd largest division with 14,000+ students
- 15 academic departments and three institutes
- Vibrant research community
- Sustainability is a key theme
- The first university campus in Canada to offer a certified gluten free food station + lots of fair trade teas, coffees, chocolate to buy
- Known for its forensic science programme – the oldest in the country. Even a ‘crime scene house’!
- Main home to UoT’s biomedical communications programme – the only one of its kind in Canada
- Mississauga is home to 60 of Canada’s Fortune 500 companies
St. George Campus
- Oldest and most central campus located in the downtown area.
- Great for students who want to be right in the centre of all the inner city action and attractions
- Mixture of old historical buildings and newer developments
- A few programmes are unique to the St. George’s campus: Kinesiology, Music and Architectural and Visual Studies
- All students in the Faculty of Arts & Science on the St. George campus are affiliated with one of seven colleges – providing a home-base and sense of a smaller community within a large institution
Scarborough Campus
- ½ hour east of downtown
- Brutalist architecture, but sits on 300 acres of parkland
- Within one of the most multicultural communities in the Greater Toronto area – abundant ethnic food on offer!
- Home to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
- Co-op/experiential learning campus – offered in over 80 programmes across faculty areas
Academic
- 200 academic departments and institutes
- 700 major/minor undergraduate programmes – thousands of combinations
- Students can mix and match programmes and experiences to build a very personalised programme and design their own degree
- Can start research from the 2nd year
- Many opportunities for co-op placements and internships
- Many opportunities to have a global experience – 150+ partner universities
- First Year Foundations: The One Programs are optional combinations of courses, seminars and experiential learning opportunities specially designed to help first-year Arts, Science and Business students get off to a solid start
- Career Learning Network brings current students and recent graduates together with partners interest in professional collaborations
Application
- Which application students complete will depend on where they are currently a high school students and if they are applying to other Ontario universities
- Two step application process via the Applicant Portal
Applicant Portal – has a personalised to-do list, where students submit required documents, transcripts and self-reported grades, check their application status and apply for residence - Admissions will first verify that you meet general admission requirements and then look at the program-specific requirements
- Emphasis will be placed on the most recent two years of study and the strength of any supplementary material
- Academic performance and potential is key in the decision making process
- Some programmes have a supplemental requirement – essay, portfolio, video, etc.
- Students can apply for up to 3 programmes, but only one per division – ie. one programme area, per faculty, per campus
- The application system won’t allow an applicant to apply for more than one programme within a faculty at the same campus
- Faculty of Arts and Science at St. George – students have to choose a college and rank their top 3
- Applications open end September/early October
- Early consideration – apply in November
- Most main deadlines are mid-January – documents due 1st February
- Decisions are released in monthly rounds between December and May
- English Language requirement: accepts IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, IB English, GCSE, IGCSE, GCE and AICE English
- Students may request a deferral but these are dealt with on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed
Finances
- $90 million CAD per year in financial assistance
- Approximate international tuition fees: Applied Science and Engineering – $63,500 CAD (22/23) and Arts & Science – $59,320 CAD (22/23). Medical and Dental programmes are significantly higher.
- Automatic consideration for merit awards alongside main application
- Lester B. Pearson Scholarship – largest international award. Students must be nominated by their high school
- Award Explorer – database for researching different scholarship options
- Otherwise limited financial aid is available for international students
- Students can work part time for 20 hours per week
Accommodation
- All first year students are guaranteed a place in residence if they apply by the March 31st deadline – this is done through the Application portal
- A range of different accommodation options are available depending on the campus, including traditional dorms, and shared townhouses and apartments.
- There are opportunities to live in Academic Learning Communities with students in the same, or a similar discipline
- Upper level students have the chance to take on leadership roles in residences – as dons or residence advisors.
- Faculty of Arts and Science students at St. George will live in one of the seven colleges – students are members of a college even if they decide not to live in residence
- Resources and support are available to assist students looking for off-campus accommodation
Activities
- 26 varsity sports – over 900 varsity athletes
- Extensive intramural sports options
- Hart House Fitness Centre – includes a new Virtual Fitness Studio and offers 30+ live classes each week and an on-demand library of 150+ fun and accessible videos.
- 1,000+ student clubs and organisations
- Huge variety of options whatever a student’s interests are
Visit the University of Toronto website
discover.utoronto.ca – register for live webinars, watch on-demand, and build your own view book based on your academic and student life interests
