Canadian Immigration Updates

Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details

The Master of Engineering is not administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Please check the UBC Engineering website for admission requirements, deadlines and application procedure.
 

Overview

The MEng program is a course-based Masters set up to provide students with a professional development experience that exposes them to new tools in Geological Engineering with an emphasis on the need to recognize and manage geological variability, uncertainty, and geo-risk in engineering design. The program is entirely course driven although there is a graduating paper students must write.

What makes the program unique?

Emphasis in our graduate courses is placed on case histories and project work that target the integration of field techniques/data with advanced numerical modelling to better understand the importance of underlying processes, mechanisms, and interactions that can affect engineering designs.

 

Program Enquiries

If you have reviewed the information on this program page and understand the requirements for this program, you may send an enquiry

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

FeesCanadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / DiplomatInternational
Application Fee$114.00$168.25
Tuition *
Installments per year33
Tuition per installment$2,234.71$8,369.77
Tuition per year
(plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%)
$6,704.13$25,109.31
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible) Not applicable
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)$1,116.60 (approx.)
Costs of livingEstimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.
* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Financial Support

Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options.

Program Funding Packages

The MEng program is a one-year program and students are expected to be self-funded.

Employer support

Organizations may provide their employees with tuition benefits as part of an employment package to support lifelong learning of their workforce.

Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)

Professional / course-based programs usually do not provide merit-based funding. Some programs may offer bursaries.

Financial aid (need-based funding)

Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans.

All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.

Foreign government scholarships

Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.

Working while studying

The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.

International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 20 hours a week.

A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement.

Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals

Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.

Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.

Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.

Cost Estimator

Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.

Career Options

The MEng program in Geological Engineering is designed to prepare graduate students for employment in the private and public sector. Recent graduates have taken positions in geotechnical and environmental consulting companies, as well as mining and oil and gas companies.

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

These statistics show data for the Master of Engineering in Geological Engineering (MEng). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.

ENROLMENT DATA

 20232022202120202019
Applications2026332019
Offers121718107
New Registrations10111553
Total Enrolment16211356

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 96% based on 27 students admitted between 2015 - 2018. Based on 29 graduations between 2020 - 2023 the minimum time to completion is 0.68 years and the maximum time is 2.73 years with an average of 1.18 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.
Disclaimer
Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each registration year, May to April, e.g. data for 2022 refers to programs starting in 2022 Summer and 2022 Winter session, i.e. May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Data on total enrolment reflects enrolment in Winter Session Term 1 and are based on snapshots taken on November 1 of each registration year. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Graduation rates exclude students who transfer out of their programs. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs.

Further Information

Specialization

Geological Engineering applies earth sciences principles to engineering problems. Research interests include

  • landslides, debris flows, engineering geology, slope stability
  • groundwater hydrology, groundwater contamination and remediation, reactive transport modeling, environmental geochemistry
  • rock engineering, rock slopes, and tunneling

Other research areas include geotechnical engineering, environmental geology, engineering geology, economic geology, and applied geophysics. The specific fields of study may involve geomorphology and terrain analysis, groundwater hydrology, natural hazards, slope stability, petroleum and coal geology, coalbed methane, mineral prospecting and valuation, and other similar subjects.

Faculty Overview

Program Identifier

VGMMEN-KU
 
 

September 2025 Intake

Application Open Date
01 October 2024
Canadian Applicant Deadline
15 January 2025
International Applicant Deadline
15 January 2025
Program Enquiries
If you have reviewed the information on this program page and understand the requirements for this program, you may send an enquiry
 
 

Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update contact details for application inquiries, please use this form.

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