Studying in Canada is a dream come true for many international students who wish to add a postgraduate diploma or masters degree to their Bachelor’s degree. Your Canadian experience starts from the very first day you made the decision to apply for either an undergraduate or postgraduate course. This post will be a bit lengthy as we need to cover every grey areas as regards the Requirements for Studying In Canada as a postgraduate student.
Aside the requirements requirements for international students to study in Canada, i will also share with you, a PDF document on the list of universities in Canada, their courses as well as their school fees so you can have an idea about what school to select when you eventually select a course.
Many applicants jump at every opportunity to study in Canada without knowing what is required by the school and Canadian embassy. One major success that trails successful approval of Canadian student visas especially for postgraduate students is that there must be a continuity with the course being applied for in relation to your current job or vocation.
For example, if you are working in the bank and applying for a postgraduate course in Canada, it is expected that you go for an administrative course like a postgraduate diploma or masters in Accounting, Business administration, Economics, Marketing or any management related course. The Canadian government cares about continuity, that is career progress and not just what you studied at the university as your first degree. They care about their economic growth and progression.
Note that as a university graduate seeking admission to study in any of the universities in Canada or college for HND see below for some of the criteria;
For international students from Nigeria, Ghana or any other African country that graduates with a second class lower must go apply for PGD course in any course related to his or her current vocation.
Applicants that graduates with a second class upper are eligible to apply for Masters degree programme directly for a course that either relates to their current vocation (for working class applicants) or the course studied in the university (Fresh graduates).
While HND graduates with Upper Credit or Distinction must apply to a college first before going for either a Postgraduate Diploma course or Masters degree programme.
You do not need IELTS score if you are from an English speaking country or graduated from a school where English was used as the means of learning.
One beautiful thing about studying in Canada as a postgraduate student, if you are married either the man or his wife, whoever gains admission can invite the other and the kids (not more than 3) over to Canada as soon as he or she gets the Temporary Resident Visa (not just admission). Alternatively, You can either get a Spouse Open Work Permit (SOWP) or visit visa and your child will get the Temporary Resident Visa.
As for job restrictions, the who ever is being invited shall not be limited to working hours but the other (the postgraduate student) shall be limited to just 20 hours per week during academic session and unlimited during non-academic sessions.
Now lets go into what document is required for your application for admission as an international student in Canada. Please be informed that you can either apply on your own via the university’s website or you go through a qualified study abroad agency with high success rate. If you are applying for the first time without someone to guide you through, i would personally advice you go through an agent with reputation because the difference between your gaining admission and visa approval is a very thin line marred by accurate information.
I will start with the required documents for Undergraduates, before listing the requirements for PGD, Masters degree and Ph.D programmes in Canada as a Nigerian (international student)
Required Documents For Undergraduates and Foundational Applicants
- Credentials (SS1 – SS3 Transcript. (Original and official copy)
- Data page of International Passport
- WAEC/NECO result with Scratch Card (If available)
- Evidence of Payment of the application processing fee (Bank Teller) or Bank Draft UNDERGRADUATE APPLICANTS
- WAEC/NECO result with at least six (6) Credits including English and Mathematics
- WAEC/NECO Scratch Card
- Datapage of International Passport
- Evidence of Payment of the application processing fee (Bank Teller) or Bank Draft
Required Documents For Postgraduate Diploma Applicants
- WAEC/NECO certificate with at least C6 in English or IELTS Score 6.5 / TOEFL Score 88
- Post-Secondary / University transcript
- Post-Secondary / University Certificate
- Resume/CV
- Datapage of International Passport
- Evidence of Payment of the application processing fee (Bank Teller) or Bank Draft.
Required Documents For Masters Degree Applicants
(Additional documents are required for master’s degree applicants and these includes)
- Two to Three reference letters (If applicable)
- Letter of Intent / Statement of Purpose
- Please note that processing of applications often takes between 3 weeks to 2 months While
Master’s application takes approximately 2/3 months. (Please note application for masters must start one year in advance approximately 9-12 month before program start date.
NOTE: All fees are always subject to change by the school at anytime 3RD class grads are ineligible to PGD programs to some of our colleges 3RD class grads are only accepted at NC, CC and FC. ND grads are eligible to NC,LC & NI. HND grads can apply Undergrad programmes also available in these colleges
How To Apply For Admission In Any Canadian University or College
STEP ONE:
- Get an Application form the university’s website or any recognized agent
- Application processing fee for the PGD or Masters programme is usually between N50,000 to N175,000 ($150 – $375 USD) depending on institution (Fees are subject to change)
STEP TWO:
Fill out the application form and attach any of the appropriate documents as stated above.
Example
Start date – (Fall Semester) September 2024 (Winter Semester) January 2024
Deadline for application – December 15th October 11th 2024
Upon submission of your postgraduate form online via the university or College’s website you will have to wait for a period of 4 to 6 weeks before the status of your application will be revealed to you through the registered email address or the university or college website you applied through.
If you are admitted, next stage will be to start your visa application. This is another … entirely which will be discussed in another article. But it may interest you to know that upon applying for your Canadian student VISA you will be required to go for medicals and get a police report. As for your medicals, IOM in ikeja charge 41,400 naira for adults 15 years and above).
Police report is not expensive to get. You can either get it at the police state or law court. A police report costs between 4,000 to 7,000 naira
Just for your information, for applicants under the ages of 11 to less than 15 years, 32,700 naira is charges while children, 28,900 naira is charged for applicants between the ages of 5 years to 11 yrs. Lastly, for applicants below 5 years of age are charged 27,000 naira.
At the beginning of this post, we talked about including the school fees and courses offered in the major universities in Canada as well as colleges as an additional information for you in need of this information.
DOWNLOAD FREE: CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES AND THEIR FEES-converted
For now, this is how far we can go about the subject matter. We shall keep you updated as we are monitoring any changes in the postgraduate admission requirements for studying in Canada, the courses and school fees for the 2024/2025 academic session. You can send your questions, opinions and inputs to us through the comment section and we shall respond to them all. Wouldn’t you rather start your application immediately?
