Dalhousie pharmacy admission requirements: university prerequisites at 70%, a 2.7 CGPA and Maritime preference

Dalhousie's PharmD does not take students straight from high school. You must have finished, or be finishing, at least one full year of university with at least 15 credit hours in both fall and winter. You also need every prerequisite course. Dal says this normally takes at least two full time years.

In practice, most students start in a science degree, because the prerequisites include chemistry, biology, calculus and organic chemistry. Dal does not name one required first degree. Check your Grade 12 average with our Top 6 average calculator and see our Dalhousie admissions overview.

You need intro chemistry, intro biology, intro calculus, intro statistics and 6 credit hours of English that count as a writing requirement. You also need organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and human anatomy and physiology. Add 9 credit hours of social sciences or humanities, a science elective and 6 credit hours of general electives.

Each course needs at least 70% (B minus) on an official transcript. Dal does not accept Pass or Credit Received marks from 2020-2021 for these courses. Courses older than 10 years do not count.

The minimum is a 2.7 cumulative GPA, using all your undergraduate marks on Dal's grading scale. Graduate courses are not counted. If you are still taking courses, Dal uses your fall GPA.

Academic performance is 60% of the review and the interview is 40%. Dal does not publish an admitted average, a class size or an acceptance rate for pharmacy. Treat 2.7 as the floor, not the target.

Dal's College of Pharmacy serves Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, so international students cannot apply. Preference goes to Maritime residents, and no more than 10% of the class can be Canadians from outside the Maritimes.

Dal counts you as a Maritimer if your parents or guardians live in the Maritimes, or if you or your spouse have worked there for the previous 12 months in a row. If you live in Ontario or elsewhere, your odds are limited by that 10% cap.

Applicants with the highest academic ranking are invited to an interview. It looks at qualities such as commitment to care, critical thinking, ethical reasoning and integrity, responsibility, communication, maturity, motivation to be a pharmacist, conflict resolution, teamwork and self awareness.

The 2026 interviews were held on one day, Saturday March 14, 2026, on a virtual platform. Dal has not yet posted the 2027 interview date. Dal does not list Casper for pharmacy.

Dal's pharmacy page still shows the last cycle. It lists a PharmD deadline of February 1, 2026, and says all transcripts are due by the February 1 deadline. The 2027 date is not posted yet, so plan for early February 2027 and confirm with the college.

Dal also asks you to contact the college no later than November of the year before you want to start. That gives time to check your courses. Dal's general deadline page for September 2027 does not list pharmacy. See our Canadian deadlines page.

The PharmD is a four year, full time, intensive program. You must take all pharmacy classes in the four year program. Learning mixes classes, tutorials, skills labs, the Practice Experience Program (PEP) and the Critical Appraisal Series.

In the final year, students learn in practice with working pharmacists and other members of the health care team. Dal does not describe a co-op stream for the PharmD.

Dal's 2026-2027 undergraduate fee schedule lists the PharmD at $539.20 per billing hour. A 15 hour term is $8,088.03 in tuition. With fees, Dal estimates $15,338.82 for fall and $11,312.80 for winter. The fall total includes summer tuition, since first year has 45 billing hours.

Your prerequisite years cost less. Science is $341.50 per billing hour, or $5,122.50 for a 15 hour term, in 2026-2027. Dal marks the whole table as an estimate.

The program is taught in English. Dal notes that the language rules to get a licence can differ from the rules to enter the university. Each province sets its own language proficiency rules for pharmacists.

If you plan to work outside the Maritimes, check that province's rules early. Dal is the only College of Pharmacy in the Maritimes, and it says it serves the three Maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Take a full load of at least 15 credit hours in both fall and winter, since Dal's one year minimum is defined that way. Put intro chemistry, intro biology, calculus and English in first year. Organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology and anatomy and physiology usually follow in second year.

If you study at a school other than Dal, contact the college by November of the year before you apply. Staff can check that your courses match. Because your fall GPA is used when you are still in classes, a strong fall term in the year you apply matters a lot.

Pharmacy at Dal is usually about six years: two years of prerequisites and four years of PharmD. If your family lives outside the Maritimes, keep the 10% cap in mind and apply to pharmacy schools in your own province too, such as U of T or Waterloo.

Help your child aim well above 70% in every prerequisite. One low mark can rule out an application. The Dalhousie university guide has more on life in Halifax.