Usually, the application process of Canadian universities is different in details, but in general, they all have several main steps, including creating an account, filling out an online application, uploading documents, paying fees, and submitting the application.

To find out the details of the Canadian university application, you must enter the website of that university and read its application instructions. In this section, we have tried to comprehensively explain how to apply to Canadian universities so that you can learn the general steps and instructions for applying and you can apply for each specific university yourself.

 

Step 1: Assess your situation

Assess your situation including your desired budget and academic requirements such as GPA, language score, age, and goals

Sometimes, even though you have the minimum requirements for admission to a university, your application may not be successful and you may not be accepted. Other factors such as the limited acceptance capacity and the competitiveness of the field affect this issue. Therefore, pay attention to these issues when choosing a university.

 

Step 2: Select your desired city and province

Consider the important factors of climate, population, job opportunities, and permanent residency requirements of the province you plan to settle in.

 

Step 3: Choose your field and university and get ready to apply

Your interest is an important factor in choosing a major, but we must not forget that this world is not always to your liking. Therefore, you must be realistic and accept the limitations and choose the ideal university and field according to your resources.

 

Step 4: Check the application deadline of your desired field

One of the important things you should check before applying to a Canadian university is the application deadline. You should check the deadline or the maximum time limit for sending the application in the department of your desired field, because each field and level of study has a different application deadline. This information   is usually written in the Admission section of the department.

 

Application deadline for Canadian universities

Admission semesters of Canadian universities	The duration of each academic semester	Apply deadline
Fall semester	From September to late December (September to December)	Most of the deadlines are in January, February and March.
winter semester	From January to the end of April (December to the end of April)	Most of the deadlines are in June and July of the year before the start of the semester. A limited number of fields and universities have deadlines until August and September.
Spring semester / Summer semester is called spring semester in some universities and summer semester in some universities. Note: Only some universities offer spring/summer semester.	From May to the end of July (May to the end of July)	Usually, the deadlines are in October and November of the previous year. The deadline of some universities is in February and March of the same year.

 

Tips about application deadlines for Canadian universities

The application deadline is different depending on the field, level of study and university.  The surest way to find out about the application deadline is to check the desired department in that university. 

Considering that you are an international student and you have the study visa process, if you apply for Canadian universities, you must   apply for that university  at least 8 to 12 months before the start of the academic semester .

Do not postpone applying until the last days of the deadline.  The later you apply, the capacity of your desired field may be filled for that academic semester. 

In some Canadian universities,  the deadline for sending applications and the deadline for sending documents  are different. This means that according to a certain date, you must submit the online application first, and then you will be given a longer deadline to send the documents. 

Take the university application deadline seriously.  If you do not send the application and documents required for university admission according to the application date, your application will be rejected. 

Research-oriented courses in postgraduate and doctorate degrees usually have an earlier application deadline.  Since you need to correspond with Canadian university professors for most of these courses, start the correspondence process with professors a few months before the application deadline.

 

Step 5: Prepare the necessary documents for applying

Before starting the application process, carefully read the website of the department of your desired field and see what documents and conditions are required for admission to that field. Information about required documents   is usually written  in the Admission section of each department.

Prepare the required documents and convert each document into a pdf file and name it correctly in English. Some universities have their own guidelines for preparing documents, and they usually set volume limits for documents. 

 

Step 6: Enter the university website and create an account

In the website menu of most universities, the sections related to undergraduate studies are named “Undergraduate” and the sections related to postgraduate studies are named “Graduate”. 

If you intend to apply for postgraduate or bachelor’s degrees, you must enter the Undergraduate section, and if you intend to apply for higher degrees such as post-bac, master’s or doctorate, you must enter the Graduate section. 

The image below shows the website of the University of Ottawa. As you can see, the Undergraduate and Graduate sections are in the menu, and by clicking on each of these sections, the available fields (Undergraduate or Graduate Programs) and also how to apply (How to Apply) are displayed in those sections.

Upon entering the How to Apply section of the university, there is usually a section called Create Account. Apply starts with creating an account. After clicking on Create Account, define a username and password for the account and then enter the main application.

 

Step 7: Enter the online application and fill the various parts of the application with the required information. 

After creating an account and entering the main application, enter all the requested information, including personal information, home address and phone number, education information, job information and, if possible, your honors and academic achievements. Usually, in the application of universities, from the very beginning, you have to select the name of the field, degree and semester from the list.

Other information that you must enter in the universities application is the job information and contact information of two or three professors of the university where you study in the country of origin or the information of your employer so that they can write a letter of recommendation for you later.

Usually, the requirements for admission to each field and university are different, and depending on it, two or three letters of recommendation from university professors may be required. Some universities are more flexible and usually accept one or two letters of recommendation from the employer. Therefore, before starting the application process, talk to your professors and employer and get their approval to send a letter of recommendation.

After entering the professors’ information, an email will be sent to them from the Canadian university and they will be asked to send the recommendation letter form along with the recommendation letter to the email address of the Canadian university. 

For most of the research-oriented fields in the doctoral and master’s degree, it is necessary to enter the name of the supervisor who is going to be your guide in the future in the application. You have to find the supervisor before the application process and through correspondence with the university professors. 

Be very careful in entering your name and information and do not write anything wrong. After submitting the application, it is difficult to modify the information. 

After filling each field, click on the Save option and save the information. Otherwise, you have to enter your information from the beginning. In most university applications, it was possible to exit the application after filling each section and saving its information, and re-enter the application whenever you want and complete the rest. 

Usually, the application of Canadian universities is active for up to one month, and during this period you must complete and submit it. After one month, there is a possibility that your account will be deactivated.

 

Step 8: Upload the necessary documents in the application.

 In some university applications, it is possible to upload required documents. But in some other applications, this possibility arises after submitting the application. So check what kind of university application you want.

The documents that you usually have to upload to the Canadian universities application include resume, statement of purpose, language certificate, and educational documents. 

If the application you are looking for is of a type where it is not possible to upload documents, after submitting the application, you should wait for an email from the university with instructions on how to activate the university portal and upload documents. Activating the student portal in each university has a different process. You usually need to create a new username and password. 

For example, the application process at the University of Windsor is as mentioned, and after applying, an email containing instructions for uploading documents will be sent to you. The following image is from the University of Windsor website about this:

On the website of some universities,  the steps after applying  are written, according to the instructions, you can activate your account, upload the necessary documents and check the status of your application. Therefore, according to the application system of these universities, you will not be sent an activation email after applying, and you must follow the instructions on the university website.

 

Step 9: Pay the application fee and submit the application at the end. 

 After entering all the required information, pay the application fee and finally submit it. To pay for the application, you need an international credit card, Visa card or MasterCard. At the end of all applications, there is an option called Submit, which you must click on after entering the bank card information. 

By clicking the Submit option, your application will be sent to the university online. Always take a screenshot of the payment page and the page that confirms the submission of the application and keep it for yourself to show the confirmation to the university in case of possible problems.

 

Step 10: Wait for the university email and receive the application number. 

After submitting the file, you will receive a number called Application Number or Student ID or Student Number. This number is specific to your application for that university and it is very important that you keep it and write this number in the subject of your email in all your correspondence with the university. 

 

Step 11: Activate your university account. 

After applying, you will receive an email from the university the same day or a few days later, which contains the necessary information to activate your university portal. As we explained in step 8, the application process may be different in some universities and this email will not be sent to you. Instead, you should read the university’s website and see how to activate your portal after applying. 

By activating your university portal, you can upload the necessary documents if necessary (depending on the university’s application rules) and you can  check the status of your application  and see if all the documents have been received by the university and the application is complete.

 

Step 12: Receive your initial acceptance letter. 

 You will receive the result one or more months after applying to a Canadian university. If you are accepted, you will receive an acceptance letter along with a student number and DLI number.

 Universities that need to pay a deposit first send a letter called Offer Letter, which is not the final acceptance letter and cannot be used to apply for a Canadian study visa. In order for the university to send you the final letter of acceptance, which is called Letter of Acceptance-LOA, it is necessary to pay the university deposit first. 

Some other Canadian universities do not need to pay a deposit. If you are accepted from these universities, you will be issued an LOA letter from the very beginning.

 

Step 13: If necessary, pay the university deposit.

If your chosen university requires you to pay a deposit, you must pay this fee in order for the final acceptance letter or Letter of Acceptance to be sent to you. 

To pay the deposit, each university has different payment methods. Usually they all have an online payment method. Due to the embargo on Iranian banks, you cannot directly make your payment from Iran to Canada. So you need to get help from someone who has a Canadian bank account.

 If you have relatives in Canada, you can ask them to do this for you. Otherwise, another way is to get help from the exchange. 

After paying the deposit, you need to send the receipt to the university of your choice. 

 

Step 14: Receive your final acceptance letter. 

It usually takes one to two weeks to receive the LOA after sending the deposit receipt to the university. When the final acceptance letter is sent to you, read it carefully. Check that your name and surname, the name of your field and level of study and other relevant items are written correctly. 

If everything was perfect, apply for a Canadian study visa in the next step if you are ready and have prepared the necessary documents. 

 

Step 15: Mail the official paper translation of your documents to the university.

After receiving your LOA acceptance letter, almost all Canadian universities will ask you to mail them your transcripts. Please note that you should not send the original academic documents, but only the original translation of the academic documents and transcripts of the previous level  (Official Transcript) is required.

In the application stage, the translation of the documents does not need a judicial seal, but when you want to post the educational documents to a Canadian university, your documents must be  officially translated, that is, they must have a translator’s seal and a judicial seal. 

Documents should be sent by your university. Take the translation of the documents along with the copies of the Farsi pages to the university where you study and ask the international department of the university to mail the documents to the address of the destination university. If the home university does not do this for you, get the official university envelope from them. The envelope must be stamped by the university.  Then put your academic documents in the university envelope and close the door. 

The sender’s address  must be the address of the university where you study, and in the  receiver’s address field  , you must write the address of the Canadian university that is written in your acceptance letter. Be sure to write your name and student number on the envelope. 

Note: You can postpone sending the academic documents after receiving the visa result.