UBC values diversity and strongly encourages dedicated international students to apply to our graduate programs.

About 35% of master’s students, and 47% of doctoral students at UBC Vancouver are international students. We have close to 3,900 doctoral students and 7,250 master’s students, the fourth largest graduate student population among Canadian universities, and our 85 academic units offer over 250 research-based programs and 85 course-based master’s programs.

 

 

Why come to UBC?

  • Academic Excellence

    UBC is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the top public universities in the world.

  • Degree Program Choice

    At UBC, you can choose from more than 300 graduate degree program options and 2200+ research supervisors. You can even design your own program.

  • Entrepreneurial

    Seed funding, tech accelerator, incubator, executives in residence - UBC provides support for all stages of venture creation, from ideation, through business model creation, to company building.

  • Fantastic Location

    Vancouver has it all: sea, parks, mountains, beaches and four seasons per year, including beautiful summers and mild, wet winters with snow in the mountains.

  • Innovative

    UBC is a catalyst for innovation with more than 2,500 collaborative research partnerships, 200+ spin-off companies, and 450+ licensing agreements for its technologies across the world.

  • International

    Times Higher Education ranked UBC as the most international university in North America in its "World University Rankings 2024.”

  • Modern Facilities

    UBC invested more than $1.5 billion dollars into infrastructure and facilities in the past few years.

  • Supportive

    UBC focuses on your success and offers dozens of professional development events and career sessions over the course of your program.

  • Safety

    Canada is a safe country and study destination according to Global Piece Index and Global Law and Order Report.

  • Study-Life Balance

    Vancouver is one of the most attractive cities in the world, according to rankings by The Economist (world’s most livable city), Mercer Consulting (best city in the world) and by Condé Nast Traveler magazine (best city in the Americas).

  • Sustainable

    UBC is recognized globally as one of the most sustainable campuses in the world and a model for sustainable cities.

  • Welcoming

    Canadians are friendly people with an open and welcoming culture. Canadians rank among the happiest people in the World Happiness Report.

  • Academic Library

    UBC has one of the largest academic libraries in Canada.

  • Economic Strength

    Canada was ranked 2nd in the 2018 Best Countries Ranking by US News, which measures global performance on a variety of metrics.

  • Mild Climate

    Vancouver has one of the mildest climates in Canada.

Program Options

Course-based programs

Course-based pograms, sometimes referred to as professional programs, require a student to complete a set number of courses to obtain a degree. Submission of an individual research thesis is usually not required, but programs may include major projects, capstone courses, internships or other work placements. Course-based programs tend to be shorter in duration and more flexible in program delivery, usually with higher tuition costs. These are often targeted at professionals with some work experience to attain the next career promotion or a change into another field.

View Course-based Programs

Research-based programs

Research-based programs usually include some coursework at the beginning of the degree and then focus on individual independent research under the supervision of a faculty member that culminates in the formulation of a thesis or dissertation. Most master programs require 2 years of study and PhD programs usually require between 5-7 years of study. Research degrees provide the possibility to become an expert in a chosen field of study with the possibility to pursue an academic career as professor as well as exciting careers in non-academic environments. Many UBC programs expect applicants to have obtained a master's level qualification before entering a PhD, although direct entry into PhD progams is possible at UBC.

View thesis optional Master's programs

View thesis required Master's programs

View Doctoral programs

Scholarships, Awards and Funding

UBC is a research powerhouse and invests heavily into attracting the best young scientists into its programs. Compared to other institutions of similar reputation UBC offers very high quality education at a significantly subsidized low tuition cost. Apart from the low base tuition excellent candidates for research-programs will benefit from scholarships and awards.

View awards database

Selected Awards

Guaranteed PhD Funding

All new PhD students will receive a minimum funding guarantee of $24,000 for each of the first four years of the PhD. Strong applicants can expect higher funding packages. The average funding package at UBC is $28,000 per year.

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International Tuition Award

All eligible international students in research-based programs automatically qualify for a tuition award of up to $3,200.

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Graduate Support Initiative

The Graduate Support Initiative is a program for funding graduate students through entrance scholarships, multi-year funding packages, tuition awards and scholarship top-ups.

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President's Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award

These awards recognize the significant contributions of PhD students to the research activities of the university. All eligible PhD students automatically receive the award.

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Common Questions

DO I REQUIRE AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST?

What are the academic minimum requirements by country?

How do I submit transcripts and degree parchments?

DO I HAVE TO TAKE THE GRE?

WHERE IS UBC AND WHAT IS THE CAMPUS LIKE?

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Key Contacts

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Program Administrator

The program administrator is the first point of contact regarding administrative procedures such as graduate student admissions, eligibility, deadlines, foreign credentials, financial support, etc. You can find the contact details for each program in the program listing.

Program Listing
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Graduate Advisor

Each program has a designated faculty member who provides academic advising regarding their graduate program.

Graduate advisors
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International Student Advising

UBC has a team of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) or Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs) who can help with your questions.

International Student Advisors
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Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies

G+PS sets the minimum admission standards for entry to any graduate program at UBC and works in collaboration with programs in graduate student administration.

Contact G+PS
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Research Supervisor

Students in research-based programs will have a faculty member as supervisor who mentors them and guides their research. Some programs require applicants to get in touch with supervisors before or as part of the application. Review the program website to learn what is expected.

Research Supervisors
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Support and Services

International students have access to a wide range of support services, from academic to health & wellbeing support, family support, financial support, professional development and much more.

Student Support & Services