No one here reads an essay about you. They read the academic record, the subject prerequisites and the proof of English.
This page brings together the University of Toronto’s officially published requirements for international applicants for 2027 entry: applying through OUAC and the portal, four lines of deadlines, supplemental applications, the language thresholds and the Pearson scholarship.
Four questions that determine what an application will look like.
In two steps. The application is first made through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre, the province’s central system. The applicant then completes the remaining steps in the Join U of T portal, or in the Engineering Applicant Portal for engineering programmes. The second step is not optional: the portal is where personalised requirements, the document list and the application status appear.
For most programmes, no. The University of Toronto states plainly that essays, reference letters and personal statements are typically not required. Some programmes do ask for a supplemental application — a profile, a questionnaire or a statement of interest — and the portal sets this out after you apply. This is a fundamental difference from the American holistic review.
Applications typically open in late September. For 2027 entry the recommended early date is 7 November and the deadline for most faculties is 15 January. Applicants who apply by 7 November and complete the portal steps by 2 December are eligible for the first admission round and remain eligible for later ones.
Two separate requirements that are often confused. First: a senior-level English course equivalent to Ontario ENG4U is required of every applicant for every undergraduate programme, and its result counts towards the admission average. Second: proof of English facility through a test, if English is not your first language. A grade in a school English course does not satisfy the second requirement.
The direct answer: the OUAC application is only the first half. The second half happens in the university’s own portal, and without it the application is not complete.
The Ontario Universities’ Application Centre is the province’s central application system, and the application reaches the university through it. Its centralisation concerns the mechanics of applying only: the requirements, supplemental applications and deadlines are set by the University of Toronto, not by OUAC. If an application arrives from OUAC after a programme has closed, it is cancelled with no refund.
About a week after applying you receive an email with instructions for logging into Join U of T or the Engineering Applicant Portal. The portal sets out your personalised next steps, the documents required, any supplemental applications and the status of the file. This is where an applicant learns what is required of them, rather than of an applicant in the abstract.
Up to three areas of study may be listed on the application. For Pearson scholarship candidates there is an important caveat: the scholarship, if awarded, is restricted to the applicant’s top choice of programme at the time the scholarship decision is made. The order of preference is not a formality here.
If an applicant is finishing secondary school in Ontario but completed Grade 11 outside the province, the university recommends applying by 7 November and submitting the Grade 11 results with the other documents by 1 December.
The direct answer: the application deadline, the document deadline, the supplemental application deadline and the scholarship deadline are four independent dates, and the earliest of them falls in October.
| Line | Deadline | Early date | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| The application | 15 January 2027 | 7 November 2026 — recommended early date | The common deadline for Applied Science & Engineering, Architecture, Arts & Science (St. George), the iSchool, Kinesiology & Physical Education, Music, Nursing, Physician Assistant, U of T Mississauga and U of T Scarborough. Medical Radiation Sciences closes 1 February. Music recommends applying by 1 December. |
| Supporting documents | 1 February 2027 for most areas | 1 December 2026 for early applicants | Applied Science & Engineering and Music: 15 January. Architecture, Arts & Science including Rotman Commerce, the iSchool, Kinesiology, UTM and UTSC: 1 February. Documents received after the published dates are considered as space allows. |
| Supplemental applications | 15 January or 1 February 2027 | Varies by programme | The Engineering Online Student Profile: 15 January. The Music Questionnaire: 15 January. Architecture One Idea, Rotman Commerce, Computer Science, the Kinesiology Statement of Interest and the UTSC form for certain areas: 1 February. Whether a form is required is shown in the portal after you apply. |
| The Pearson scholarship | 6 November 2026 — the scholarship application | 9 October 2026 — the school nomination | For Pearson candidates the OUAC admission application must be submitted by 16 October 2026 — three months before the ordinary deadline. This is a separate line of the calendar, and it starts first. |
Decisions are released from January through late May, and for some programmes into the summer. The University of Toronto’s early round is an expedited review rather than a separate programme with restrictions: an applicant who applies by 7 November and completes the portal steps by 2 December is considered in the first round and remains eligible for later ones.
The direct answer: a senior-level English course is required of everyone and counts towards the admission average. Proof of English by test is a separate requirement, and a school course grade does not satisfy it.
Every applicant for every undergraduate programme must present a senior-level English course equivalent to Ontario ENG4U or EAE4U. Its result is considered in the admissions process and counts towards the admission average. This requirement applies regardless of whether English is the applicant’s first language.
Required if English is not your first language, that is, not the first language you learned at home as a child. It is met by one of the accepted tests or by an exemption. The university answers the common question directly: a Grade 12 English course does not replace it.
Only official results sent directly by the testing agency are accepted. Scores submitted by the applicant or their school will not be accepted. Register for the test using the same first name, surname and date of birth as on the application: otherwise the results cannot be matched to the file.
| Test or qualification | Minimum | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Overall band 6.5, with no band below 6.0 | IELTS Academic for UKVI sittings are accepted. The IELTS Indicator and IELTS One Skill Retake are not. The scores must be achieved on a single date. Electronic transmission from the test centre only. |
| TOEFL iBT | Overall 4.5 with 4.5 in Writing and 4.0 in Speaking for tests after 21 January 2026; total 89 with 22 in each of Speaking and Writing for earlier tests | The scores must be achieved on a single date: MyBest super-scored results are not used. TOEFL Essentials, ITP and ITP Plus for China are not accepted. The institution code is 0982-00. |
| Duolingo English Test | Overall 120 with 120 in Production | For tests completed on or after 1 July 2024. Results are sent after the U of T applicant number has been issued, otherwise processing is delayed. |
| PTE Academic | Overall 65 with no part below 60 | PTE Academic UKVI sittings are accepted. Electronic transmission through the myPTE account only. |
| Cambridge English C1 / C2 | Overall 180 with at least 170 in each component | Results from the B2 First exam are not accepted regardless of the score achieved. Sent through the Send Your Result function in the candidate results portal. |
| CAEL | Overall 70 with no part below 60 | Including CAEL Online. The recipient institution is selected in the CAEL account and results are transmitted electronically. |
| IB English | At least 4 in English A: Literature or English A: Language and Literature at HL or SL; or 7 in English B HL | Predicted and final results are both accepted. Final results come from the IB organisation, predicted results from the school. |
| GCSE / IGCSE / GCE / AICE | A grade of B (or 6) in GCSE/IGCSE/GCE Ordinary Level English; or C in GCE A Level, AS Level or AICE English | English as an Additional Language and English Literature are not accepted. Final results come from the examination authority and predicted results from the school. |
An exemption is possible after four or more years of full-time study at a recognised Canadian school teaching in English, after four or more years at an English-language school in a country where English is dominant, or where French is the first language together with four years at a Canadian school. The request is made after applying, through a form in the portal. For academically qualified applicants who do not meet the score, the University of Toronto offers English language transition programmes ranging from six weeks to eight months.
The direct answer: to be considered for Pearson the admission application must be submitted by 16 October — three months before the ordinary deadline — and the school nomination must be secured earlier still.
| Stage | Deadline | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| School nomination | 9 October 2026 | A school nominates one student per year. Schools that have previously participated receive access to the nomination form from 6 July 2026. A school that has not yet participated applies to join the programme by noon EST on 9 October 2026. |
| The admission application | 16 October 2026 | Through OUAC, to at least one University of Toronto undergraduate programme beginning in September 2027. |
| The scholarship application | 6 November 2026 | A nominated candidate receives a private link to the form. It can only be completed after the admission application has been submitted. All required documentation is due by the same date. |
| Decisions | From late January to April | The first notifications to recipients go out at the end of January, and all nominees hear by April. |
The scholarship covers tuition, books, incidental fees and full residence support for four years, with approximately 37 scholars named each year. Eligibility requires an international student needing a study permit who is in their final year of secondary school in 2026/2027 or graduated no earlier than June 2026. Students already in post-secondary study or beginning in January 2027 are not eligible. Using generative AI to create content for the application is expressly prohibited and results in disqualification. The university warns separately that the Pearson programme does not work with agencies or educational agents and charges no fees through third parties.
Here it is academic fit that decides, not a story about yourself. So the checks run through different points than they would for a US university.
How the particular faculty reads the certificate or diploma in hand.
Whether the subjects the chosen area requires are present, and whether any gap can still be filled.
Whether a senior-level course is present: without it no application to any programme is possible.
Meeting not only the overall score but the section minimums; certain test variants are not accepted.
Whether the chosen programme requires a form and when it closes — a month before the documents or alongside them.
If the scholarship is in scope, work begins in September of the previous year, not in January.
Tell us where the applicant is studying now and which area they are considering: the faculty determines both the deadlines and whether a supplemental application is required.
The University of Toronto and OUAC pages against which this page was checked.
Canadian admission is decided on the academic record, the subject prerequisites and the language. We establish how the faculty will read the qualification in hand, what is missing from it, and which of the four lines of deadlines starts before the rest.
QUALIFICATION → SUBJECTS → LANGUAGE → FORMS → DEADLINES