Many international and domestic students look to study in some of Canada’s top Universities. Surprisingly, these Universities have some of the highest acceptance rates in comparison to the top American Universities while still offering an amazing education.
The following is a compilation of the undergraduate acceptance rates to some of Canada’s top Universities. Please note that some Universities do not outright provide these statistics. Thus some data has had to be estimated using the information provided by each institution. The link to each university’s data has been provided below:
Canadian University Acceptance Rates:
Acceptance Rates of the Biggest Universities in Each Province
Acceptance Rates for all Other Canadian Universities
This data is fairly consistent among all universities in Canada. The average acceptance rate of Canadian Universities will hover around 45-55%, depending on the year and institution.
American Ivy League University Acceptance Rates:
| UNIVERSITY NAME | ACCEPTANCE RATE |
|---|---|
| Brown University | 9.00% |
| Columbia University | 6.00% |
| Cornell University | 14.10% |
| Dartmouth College | 10.50% |
| Harvard University | 5.20% |
| Princeton University | 6.50% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 9.40% |
| Yale University | 6.30% |
The average acceptance rate of the top Canadian Universities is approximately 5x more than the acceptance rates of Ivy League schools in the United States!
Why are Canadian University Acceptance Rates so High?
We believe there are two main reasons that Canadian University Acceptance rates are so high compared to their American counterparts.
Firstly, applicants are usually able to determine if they will be accepted to the Canadian University before they apply. Most programs in Canada only have two requirements, prerequisites courses and minimum grade requirements. Usually, supplementary applications are not required, which means applicants are usually able to determine if they will be accepted to the undergraduate program before they apply. Applicants who do not meet these requirements will likely not apply.
Secondly, American Universities tend to place high prestige on the institutions themselves. In Canada, emphasis is placed more so on the program that one applies to within each respective University. There are some extremely hard undergraduate programs to get into in Canada. For example, engineering programs at the University of Waterloo, the health science program at McMaster, and the Ivey HBA business program at Western are known for having extremely low acceptance rates, which are comparable to Ivy League Universities.
In general, in Canada, a University degree is a University degree, regardless of which Canadian institution you get it from. Employers typically treat all degrees equally among all accredited Canadian Universities. For example, if you obtain an undergraduate life science degree, it doesn’t particularly matter from which Canadian institution you received it from as long as it is accredited. However, there are some extremely difficult undergraduate programs to get into Canada that many students strive to be accepted into.
FAQ:
Which Canadian University is the easiest to get into?
All Universities in Canada are relatively easy to get into compared to those in the United States. The program you apply to is more likely to impact the difficulty of getting accepted rather than the institution itself. That being said the University of Saskatchewan, Memorial University, and the University of Guelph have among the highest acceptance rates in the country.
Which University has the highest acceptance rate in Canada?
All Universities in Canada have high acceptance rates. However, among our list of top universities in Canada, the University of Saskatchewan, Memorial University, and the University of Guelph have the highest acceptance rates at around 65%.
Which University has the lowest acceptance rate in Canada?
Universities in Canada have acceptance rates much higher than American Universities. That being said, in our list of top universities in Canada, the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, and Dalhousie University all have the lowest acceptance rates at around 40%.
Which Canadian Universities have high acceptance rates for International Students?
Some Universities in Canada give preference to students who live in the province or territory they study in for specific programs. The Universities with the highest acceptance rates for international studies include McMaster University, Université de Montréal, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, and the University of Calgary.