Application path · Dalhousie University
From requirements to a decision
- 1Check fitCurriculum, prerequisites, grades
- 2ApplyRoute, choices, fees, deadline
- 3CompleteDocuments and supplements
- 4RespondOffers, conditions, next steps
Dalhousie University Admissions & Deadlines
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Core application items, supplements, deadlines, and proof. This focused guide keeps the detailed tables, official sources, and practical next steps in one manageable reading path.
Reviewed August 16, 2026 · Information checked against official university sources · How we review guides
Admissions Planning
Fall 2027 admissions planning
Dalhousie University admission requirements by program
Dalhousie does not run one university-wide cut-off. It publishes a minimum average per program, calculated on five academic Grade 12 courses, with Academic English 12 required everywhere. The published minimums run from 70% in Arts, Management, Engineering, and Nursing to 75% in Commerce and Science and 80% in Medical Sciences — and Dalhousie states in its own words that meeting the minimum average doesn't guarantee admission.
Average formula
Five Grade 12 courses
Calculated using the five courses required for the program applied for, always including Academic English 12.
Fall 2027 opens
October 1, 2026
Confirmed on Dalhousie's own undergraduate admissions page — a genuine cycle date, not a recurring pattern.
Application route
apply.dal.ca
Dalhousie is not an OUAC school, but Ontario applicants can supply an OUAC number so grades transfer automatically.
Official-source conflict
Dalhousie's own pages disagree about which cycle is live
Two first-party pages already carry the next cycle: undergraduate admissions states that applications for Fall 2027 open on October 1, and the awards page names the 2027–2028 General Entrance Award program opening October 1, 2026 and closing February 15, 2027. The central dates-and-deadlines page, meanwhile, still publishes only the September 2026 entry sequence. Use the two confirmed 2027 dates, and treat every program-specific deadline below as last cycle's pattern until Dalhousie relabels it.
Published minimum averages and required courses
| Program | Published minimum | Required Grade 12 | Planning note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arts (BA) | 70% | Academic English 12 plus four additional academic Grade 12 subjects; no mathematics required | In Ontario this means ENG4U, ETS4U, or NBE4U plus four more 4U/4M academic credits. |
| Health Promotion / Therapeutic Recreation | 70% | Academic English 12 plus four additional academic subjects; no mathematics required | Health Sciences routes carry separate non-academic requirements on top of the average. |
| Management (BMgmt) | 70% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, plus three additional | Ontario mathematics can be MDM4U, MHF4U, or MCV4U on Dalhousie's own equivalency chart. |
| Applied Computer Science / Computer Science | 70% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12 at 70% or Pre-calculus Math 12 at 65%, plus three additional | The mathematics grade floor is separate from — and higher than — the 70% overall minimum. |
| Community Design | 70% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, one science, plus two additional | Community Design sits in Architecture and Planning; Architecture itself is a separate later-entry route. |
| Engineering (BEng) | 70% | Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, Academic Chemistry 12, Academic Physics 12, plus one additional | Ontario applicants need MCV4U-level pre-calculus, SCH4U, and SPH4U; all four sciences are mandatory, not recommended. |
| Nursing (BScN, Semester 1) | 70% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, Academic Biology 12, Academic Chemistry 12 — each at a minimum 70% — plus one additional | Dalhousie states this program may employ a competitive average, so 70% is a floor and not a prediction. |
| Commerce (BComm) | 75% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, plus three additional | Commerce is the co-op-integrated Management degree and sits 5 points above the Management minimum. |
| Kinesiology / Recreation Management | 75% | Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, plus three additional | Recreation (Therapeutic) uses the lower 70% no-math pattern, so confirm which recreation route you mean. |
| Science (BSc) | 75% | Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, plus three additional | Pre-calculus, not data management, is the Science requirement; Ontario applicants should present MHF4U or MCV4U. |
| Health Sciences technologies | 75% | Academic English 12 at a minimum 70% plus discipline-specific sciences at 70%: Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound (math, physics, biology), Nuclear Medicine (math, physics, chemistry), Radiological Technology (math, physics, plus biology or chemistry), Respiratory Therapy (math, chemistry, plus biology or physics) | These four technologies share a 75% overall minimum but each names a different science trio at 70%. |
| Medical Sciences (BSc) | 80% | Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, Chemistry 12, plus Biology 12 or Physics 12 | This is the highest published direct-entry minimum on Dalhousie's own requirements table. |
| Agriculture / Pre-Veterinary Medicine / Bioveterinary Science | 75% | Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, plus three additional | Delivered on the Agricultural Campus in Truro, roughly an hour from Halifax. |
| Agricultural Campus diplomas | 60%–70% | Business Management and Plant Science Technology use a 60% minimum with Grade 11 math; Veterinary Technology uses 60% with Academic Math 12 and Academic Biology 12; Landscape Horticulture uses 70% | The diploma routes are the lowest published entry thresholds at Dalhousie and are technology-level, not degree-level, credentials. |
Watch the course-level grade floors, not just the average
Several Dalhousie programs set a per-course minimum that sits above the overall average. Computer Science needs Academic Math 12 at 70% or Pre-calculus Math 12 at 65%. Nursing needs English, math, biology, and chemistry each at 70% on top of the 70% overall. The four health technologies need Academic English 12 at a minimum 70% plus their own named science trio at 70%. A 78% overall average with a 65% in chemistry can fail a program whose stated minimum is 70%.
Current application and award schedule
| Checkpoint | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2027 application opens | October 1, 2026 | Confirmed. Dalhousie's undergraduate admissions page states that applications for Fall 2027 open on October 1. |
| 2027–2028 General Entrance Award application | Opens October 1, 2026; closes February 15, 2027 | Confirmed. The awards page names the 2027–2028 program explicitly with both dates. |
| Fall 2027 program-specific application deadlines | Not yet published | The dates-and-deadlines page still carries only September 2026 entry, so the February 15 Nursing/Health Sciences/Medical Sciences/Social Work date and the March 1 Architecture date are last cycle's pattern, not confirmed 2027 dates. |
| Guaranteed residence application | May 1 (2026 cycle label) | The residence guarantee is stated without a year on the apply-for-residence page; the dated May 1, 2026 version appears on the deadlines page. Treat May 1, 2027 as the working date and verify. |
| Early entrance award acceptance | January 31 (2026 cycle label) | Early award offers must be accepted by paying the admission deposit by January 31; the deadlines page labels this Jan. 31, 2026. |
| Offer and General Entrance Award acceptance | May 15 (2026 cycle label) | Published as May 15, 2026 for the current cycle; the 2027 equivalent has not been posted. |
Application checklist
- 1.Pick the exact program before choosing Grade 12 courses — the average is calculated on the five courses that program requires, and pre-calculus versus data management is a real fork.
- 2.Apply through apply.dal.ca and pay the $70 CAD application fee; required documentation appears in the portal once the application is submitted.
- 3.Have your school send transcripts directly to admissions.documents@dal.ca, or supply an OUAC number (Ontario) or provincial student ID (Nova Scotia) so grades transfer automatically.
- 4.Complete the General Entrance Award application in the same portal — the 2027–2028 program closes February 15, 2027 and decisions use Grade 12 first-semester final grades only.
- 5.Apply for residence by May 1 to hold the direct-from-high-school guarantee, and budget the $50 non-refundable residence application fee separately.
Current English-test minimums
IELTS
6.5 overall; 6.0 in each band
TOEFL
90 overall with 20 in each band on the 1–120 scale, or 4.5 overall with 4.5 Listening and 4.0 Reading, Speaking, and Writing on the 1–6 scale
Duolingo English Test
120 overall
CAEL
70
PTE Academic
61 overall; 50 in each communicative skill
Cambridge English
180 overall
Oxford ELLT
7 overall; no component below 6
MELAB
55
What Dalhousie actually publishes right now
Each card below is a single fact checked against one first-party dal.ca page or fee-schedule PDF, with the cycle it belongs to and its verification status. Anything Dalhousie has not published for Fall 2027 is marked pending rather than guessed, and where two of its own pages disagree the card says so.
Fall 2027
Fall 2027 cycle status
Confirmed and dated by Dalhousie: the undergraduate admissions page states that applications for Fall 2027 open on October 1, and the future-student awards page names the 2027–2028 General Entrance Award program as opening October 1, 2026 with a February 15, 2027 deadline.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admissions: application steps and cycle status · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2027 versus September 2026 entry
Two first-party pages disagree about which cycle is live
The undergraduate admissions page and the awards page both carry Fall 2027 and 2027–2028 dates, but the central dates-and-deadlines page still publishes only the September 2026 entry sequence — Feb. 15, 2026 program deadlines, Mar. 1, 2026 Architecture, May 1, 2026 guaranteed residence, May 15, 2026 offer acceptance. The two pages have not been reconciled.
Use the October 1, 2026 opening and February 15, 2027 award deadline as confirmed, and treat every program-specific date on the deadlines page as last cycle's pattern until Dalhousie relabels it.
Dalhousie University: Dates and deadlines (admissions, awards, residence) · Verified August 16, 2026
Current process
Application route and fee
Dalhousie takes applications through its own portal at apply.dal.ca in three steps: complete and submit the application, pay the application fee, and submit official documentation. The awards page states a $70 CAD admissions application fee. Ontario applicants may supply an OUAC number and Nova Scotia applicants a provincial student ID instead of a transcript, so Dalhousie receives grades automatically.
Dalhousie is not an OUAC institution; the OUAC number is only used as a grade-transfer shortcut.
Dalhousie University: Future undergraduate student awards and the General Entrance Award · Verified August 16, 2026
University-published counts
Size and academic structure
Dalhousie publishes 21,000 students from across the country and more than 115 countries, 13 faculties, 300+ programs, 155,000+ alumni around the world, and more than $270 million in research funding each year. It was founded in Halifax in 1818.
These are Dalhousie's own marketing counts; treat them as directional rather than audited enrolment data.
Dalhousie University: Facts, figures and rankings · Verified August 16, 2026
Current positioning
Research positioning
Dalhousie describes itself as Nova Scotia's leading research-intensive university and one of Canada's top 15 research-intensive universities, and its facts page adds a Top 12 Canadian universities line, a Top university in Atlantic Canada line, and a Gold Rating in Sustainability.
The Top 12 and Top 15 claims appear on Dalhousie's own pages without a named ranking body on the pages reviewed.
Dalhousie University: About Dalhousie: founding, scale, and campuses · Verified August 16, 2026
Current campuses
Campuses
Dalhousie operates campuses in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia, plus locations in Saint John, New Brunswick and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The Halifax teaching campuses are Studley, Carleton, and Sexton, which matters because incidental fees differ between Studley/Carleton and Sexton.
Dalhousie University: About Dalhousie: founding, scale, and campuses · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2027
Acceptance rate
No first-party Dalhousie page reviewed for this guide publishes a university-wide undergraduate acceptance percentage. Dalhousie publishes a minimum average per program instead, and repeats that admission to many programs is competitive and that meeting minimum posted requirements does not guarantee admission.
Any Dalhousie acceptance rate you find is third-party modelling, not a Dalhousie publication. Plan against the published minimum and the competitive-average warning.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
How the admission average is calculated
Dalhousie calculates the admission average on five academic Grade 12 courses, and states that the average uses the five courses that are required for the program applied for. Academic English 12 — or its provincial equivalent — is required for every program, with a qualifying final grade in Grade 12 academic English and any other required subject.
Dalhousie University: Canadian high-school applicants: minimum averages and courses · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Programs with a 70% published minimum
Arts, Management, Applied Computer Science, Computer Science, Community Design, Health Promotion, Recreation (Therapeutic), Recreation Management, Engineering, Nursing (Semester 1), Music, and the Landscape Horticulture diploma all publish a 70% minimum average.
Recreation Management is listed at 70% on the requirements table alongside a 75% Kinesiology line; confirm the exact recreation route with Admissions.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Programs with a 75% published minimum
Commerce, Kinesiology, Science, International Food Business, Agriculture/Pre-Veterinary Medicine, Bioveterinary Science, and the four health technologies — Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound Technology, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Radiological Technology, and Respiratory Therapy — publish a 75% minimum average.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
The highest published direct-entry minimum
Medical Sciences publishes an 80% minimum average with Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, Chemistry 12, and Biology 12 or Physics 12. It is the highest published minimum on Dalhousie's own undergraduate requirements table.
Medical Sciences is a Bachelor of Science degree, not admission to medical school.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current policy
Competitive admission language
Dalhousie states that admission to many programs at Dalhousie are competitive; meeting the minimum average doesn't guarantee admission. Individual program entries add that the program may employ a competitive average for admission purposes and that meeting minimum posted requirements does not guarantee admission.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2027
Published competitive averages by program
Dalhousie warns that competitive averages exist but does not publish the numeric competitive average for any undergraduate program on the sources reviewed. Only the minimum thresholds are published.
Do not treat the 70%, 75%, or 80% minimums as prediction of the mark a competitive program will actually take.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Course-level grade floors above the overall minimum
Several programs set a per-course grade floor that sits above the overall minimum. Computer Science requires Academic Math 12 at 70% or Pre-calculus Math 12 at 65%. Nursing requires Academic English 12, Academic Math 12, Academic Biology 12, and Academic Chemistry 12 each at 70%. The four health technologies require Academic English 12 at a minimum 70% plus their named sciences at 70%.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admission requirements by program · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Ontario course equivalencies
Dalhousie's provincial chart accepts English (ENG4U), Studies in Literature (ETS4U), or Contemporary Aboriginal Voices (NBE4U) for the English requirement, and Data Management (MDM4U), Advanced Functions (MHF4U), or Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) for the mathematics requirement.
Programs that specify Pre-calculus Math 12 — Science, Engineering, Medical Sciences, Agriculture, Bioveterinary Science — should be read as MHF4U or MCV4U rather than MDM4U.
Dalhousie University: Specific Grade 12 course requirements by province · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Engineering prerequisite set
Engineering requires a 70% minimum with Academic English 12, Pre-calculus Math 12, Academic Chemistry 12, and Academic Physics 12, plus one additional academic subject. All four are required subjects, not recommendations.
Dalhousie University: Engineering (BEng) program structure and disciplines · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
Nursing Semester 3 advanced standing
Advanced standing requires a 2.5 GPA based on the overall post-secondary career or the most recent year of studies (30 credit hours), with core prerequisites in anatomy, physiology, statistics, microbiology, and English writing at a minimum grade of C. Core prerequisites cannot exceed 10 years old from graduation date and electives cannot exceed 15 years old. Dalhousie notes that applicants typically need higher GPAs than the stated minimum. All newly admitted students must obtain CPR-Health Care Provider (CPR-HCP) level certification in their entrance year.
Dalhousie University: Nursing (BScN) admission requirements and FAQs · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 bands; TOEFL 90 overall with 20 bands on the 1–120 scale, or 4.5 overall with 4.5 Listening and 4.0 Reading, Speaking and Writing on the 1–6 scale; Duolingo 120 overall; CAEL 70; PTE 61 overall with communicative skills scores of 50; Cambridge English 180 overall; Oxford ELLT 7 overall with no component below 6; MELAB 55.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate English language requirements · Verified August 16, 2026
Current requirements
English proficiency exemptions
Applicants are considered to have met the requirement if they attended a recognized English-based institution for three years at the secondary level or one year at the post-secondary level. International high-school programs — IB, AP, or GCE — with specified minimum grades also qualify, as do approved English language pathway programs through Dalhousie or partner institutions.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate English language requirements · Verified August 16, 2026
Fall 2027
Program-specific Fall 2027 application deadlines
Not yet published. The dates-and-deadlines page still carries the September 2026 entry sequence: Feb. 15, 2026 for Nursing, Health Sciences, Medical Sciences and Social Work; Mar. 1, 2026 for the Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies (Architecture); June 15, 2026 for post-diploma Health Sciences.
The February 15 and March 1 pattern recurs annually, so use it as a working plan — but the Fall 2027 versions are not confirmed and the Architecture route is on its own earlier calendar.
Dalhousie University: Dates and deadlines (admissions, awards, residence) · Verified August 16, 2026
September 2026 entry, latest published
Offer, deposit, and award acceptance dates
For the published September 2026 entry cycle: Jan. 31, 2026 to accept early entrance awards by paying the admission deposit; Feb. 15, 2026 for entrance scholarship consideration; entrance scholarship offers sent out in March 2026; May 1, 2026 guaranteed residence application deadline; May 15, 2026 to accept the admission offer and General Entrance Awards; first-year course registration opening in June 2026.
The February 15 award date has already been confirmed for 2027 on the awards page; the other dates have not.
Dalhousie University: Dates and deadlines (admissions, awards, residence) · Verified August 16, 2026
Current process
Document submission
Required documentation is noted in the application portal once the application is submitted. Documents are emailed to admissions.documents@dal.ca, and a transcript is only official if the school or issuing institution sends it directly. Applications supported by self-reported grades alone will not be considered for the General Entrance Award program.
Dalhousie University: Undergraduate admissions: application steps and cycle status · Verified August 16, 2026
Official Sources and Next Steps
Stellar keeps this guide structured for comparison, but official university pages remain the source of truth for program requirements, tuition, residence, scholarships, deadlines, and policy changes.
Prepared by Stellar Advisers Editorial Team · Reviewed August 16, 2026 · Editorial, corrections, and source methodology