University of Ottawa Costs & Financial Aid
Ottawa, Ontario
Tuition planning, scholarships, and international budgets. This focused guide keeps the detailed tables, official sources, and practical next steps in one manageable reading path.
The short answer
- An Ontario undergraduate pays $7,579.43 for two terms in 2026–2027. An international undergraduate pays $65,165.81.
- The University of Ottawa Admission Scholarship is automatic for eligible full-time direct-entry students. It pays $3,000 for a 95%–100% average.
- International students in English programs can get $7,500 per term, up to $60,000. They need at least 80% in an approved English program.
- International students in approved French programs get an automatic tuition exemption. It is $12,500–$18,000 per eligible term, set by faculty.
- OSAP, the Ontario Student Assistance Program (Ontario's student grants and loans), takes one application per academic year. Apply early, as processing can take six to eight weeks.
Reviewed August 14, 2026 · Official university sources · How we review guides
2026–2027 tuition, scholarships, bursaries, OSAP, and work study
University of Ottawa scholarships and financial aid
A strong uOttawa funding plan keeps tuition and automatic entrance scholarships separate. It does the same for application-based bursaries and OSAP (Ontario's student grants and loans). International tuition reductions and student employment stay separate too. The route that applies depends on your residency. It also depends on program language and faculty. It depends on your admission average and the financial need you have shown.
Domestic admission award
$1,000–$3,000
This is automatic for eligible direct-entry students. They need an 85%–100% admission average. This is under the current 2026–2027 rules.
English international awards
Up to $70,000
This is a renewable $60,000 automatic award. There is also a competitive, one-time $10,000 award. It is for selected eligible students.
French international exemption
$12,500–$18,000/term
This is an automatic faculty-based tuition reduction. It is for eligible international students. They must study in French or French Immersion.
uOttawa tuition and fee examples for 2026–2027
uOttawa publishes these examples. They show how tuition and common ancillary charges combine. The examples are for one full-time first-year undergraduate. They are planning references, not prices for every program. Faculty association, incidental, and administrative costs can still be additional. Housing, food, books, and personal costs can be additional too.
| Example student | Fall tuition | Fall total | Winter total | Two-term total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario undergraduate | $3,104.96 | $3,792.32 | $3,787.11 | $7,579.43 |
| International undergraduate | $31,582.15 | $32,585.51 | $32,580.30 | $65,165.81 |
The international example includes $316 of UHIP in each term. Use the official estimator workflow and the student's statement of account for the authoritative total.
How Ontario tuition changed for 2026–27
2026–27 · Published for this period
Tuition for Ontario students increased 2% for 2026–2027, with two published exceptions for students entering or continuing: a 6.63% increase for undergraduate dual fast-track degrees in Engineering and Science, and a 7.5% increase for all Telfer School of Management programs. Students who do not progress normally between tuition brackets can face a sharper increase.
Applies to: Ontario high school, Other Canadian, Transfer, Mature
uOttawa Financial Aid and Awards: Tuition for Canadian students from Ontario · Verified August 14, 2026
International tuition caps and the 2026–27 freeze
2026–27 · Published for this period
International undergraduate tuition for 2026–2027 is unchanged from 2025–2026 for students entering first year or returning. For students admitted for Fall 2022 or later, uOttawa commits that future annual tuition increases will not exceed 7%; international fees themselves are unregulated by the Ontario framework.
Applies to: International
uOttawa Financial Aid and Awards: Tuition for international students · Verified August 14, 2026
Four applications and assessments to keep separate
Automatic admission awards
No separate award application is needed for the University of Ottawa Admission Scholarship. No separate award application is needed for qualifying language-based awards either.
Online Scholarships and Bursaries
After you get uoAccess credentials, use the portal. It shows donor, faculty, need-based, and specialized opportunities matched to you.
Government student aid
Apply separately to OSAP. Or apply separately to the student's home-province program. Or apply to the student's home-country program. uOttawa does not replace that application.
Work-Study Navigator
Complete the financial questionnaire and separate work-study application for eligible on-campus employment.
Fall 2027 deadline status
Do not reuse uOttawa's 2025–2026 award deadlines
Reviewed July 29, 2026, uOttawa had not published a complete Fall 2027 undergraduate scholarship and bursary calendar. The main admission scholarship is automatic, but application-based awards use their own portal dates. Apply early, get a uoAccess ID, and verify each live listing. Do not treat a prior-cycle date as a 2027 deadline.
University of Ottawa Admission Scholarship
The current admission scholarship is automatic. It is for eligible full-time students. They must enter a direct-entry faculty or the Civil Law Section. You do not need a separate scholarship application. Mature applicants are not eligible for this award. University transfers are not eligible for this award.
| Admission average | First-year value |
|---|---|
| 95%–100% | $3,000 |
| 90%–94.9% | $2,000 |
| 85%–89.9% | $1,000 |
uOttawa financial-aid checklist
- 1.Use the official fee table for the student's exact program, residency status, and course load; the examples below are not universal prices.
- 2.Add residence or rent, food, books, incidental fees, health coverage, travel, winter clothing, and an emergency reserve.
- 3.Apply for admission early enough to receive the uoAccess credentials needed for Online Scholarships and Bursaries.
- 4.Separate automatic awards from application-based scholarships, need-based bursaries, government aid, work study, and external funding.
- 5.Recheck every award's live eligibility, deadline, and combination rules before accepting an offer.
International scholarships: English, French, and French Immersion
International applicants should choose a funding route that matches the actual language and faculty of their program. The English awards exclude French Immersion. The Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship requires approved French or French Immersion study. You cannot compare values without checking the number of eligible terms and renewal conditions.
| Scholarship | Current value | Current eligibility summary |
|---|---|---|
| International English Admission Scholarship | $7,500 per term; up to $60,000 | Automatic for eligible new international students with at least 80% in an approved English-language undergraduate program; renewable for up to 12 instalments while the current conditions are met. |
| International English Academic Excellence Scholarship | $10,000 | 100 non-renewable awards for eligible new international students with at least 90%; selected students can combine it with the International English Admission Scholarship. |
| Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship | $12,500–$18,000 per eligible term | Automatic for eligible international-fee students in an approved French program or French Immersion Stream who meet the full-time and French-course-load rules; the amount depends on the faculty. |
Domestic-fee students studying in French can also review the automatic $4,000 French Studies Bursary. It is paid as $1,000 per year under the current course-load and renewal rules. It is different from the international tuition-fee exemption.
French Studies Bursary for domestic-fee students
Current award · Published for this period
The $4,000 French Studies Bursary ($1,000 per year) is automatic for full-time students in a direct-entry faculty or Civil Law taking at least three courses (9 units) taught in French each term — or two courses (6 units) in French or French-as-a-second-language for French Immersion students. Renewal for the following three years requires the same course load and a minimum 5.50 CGPA at the end of each academic year.
Applies to: Ontario high school, Other Canadian
uOttawa Financial Aid and Awards: Admission scholarships 2026–2027 overview · Verified August 14, 2026
Francophone and French Immersion tuition exemption
Winter 2024 admissions and later · Published for this period
International-fee students who start in Winter 2024 or later in an approved French program — or an English program with the French Immersion Stream, meeting immersion admission requirements — receive the automatic Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship: $12,500 per eligible term in most faculties, $16,000 at Telfer, and $18,000 in Engineering and the Science Biotechnology and Physics–Electrical Engineering combined degrees. It requires full-time study with at least three courses (9 units) taught in French per term and can run up to 12 payments at the original amount.
This is uOttawa's bilingual-pathway advantage: the exemption offsets most of the difference between international and domestic tuition while conditions are met.
Applies to: International
uOttawa Financial Aid and Awards: Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship · Verified August 14, 2026
Bursaries and the Online Scholarships and Bursaries portal
You can use the portal once you have applied and received a uoAccess ID and password. It has admission opportunities for new applicants. It also has awards for enrolled students, faculty and donor funding, and need-based bursaries. Each listing controls its own citizenship, residency, program, documents, and deadline.
uOttawa's general admission-award eligibility normally expects a first full-time undergraduate enrolment plus Canadian citizenship, permanent residence, protected-person, or refugee status unless the listing says otherwise. International applicants should use the opportunities explicitly open to international-fee students rather than assuming every bursary applies.
OSAP at uOttawa
Eligible Ontario residents submit one OSAP application per academic year. uOttawa recommends applying early. Processing can take six to eight weeks. Full-time funding is normally applied to the student account first. Any remainder after university fees is deposited to the student.
Co-op students apply separately for every term for which they want OSAP. This includes work terms. Undergraduate scholarships and bursaries are paid on study terms, not work terms. So the cash-flow plan should follow the student's actual sequence.
Read the 2026–2027 OSAP guideWork-Study Program
The current application windows are August 1–October 13, 2026 for fall. They are December 1, 2026–February 11, 2027 for winter. They are March 18–June 14, 2027 for spring-summer. Students complete a financial questionnaire in Work-Study Navigator. They must meet academic, course-load, and tuition conditions.
Work study is a job, not a guaranteed grant. Treat expected earnings with care until eligibility is approved and an actual position is secured.
Official University of Ottawa sources
Values and dates can change. Verify the exact program, award, and student-status rules in the live source before making a financial commitment.
- 2026–2027 annual university-fee examples
- Ontario undergraduate tuition guidance
- International undergraduate tuition guidance
- Scholarships and awards overview
- International English scholarships
- Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship
- OSAP guidance for Ontario residents
- Work-Study Program
- Financial Aid and Awards contact information
Continue planning uOttawa
Cost Planning
| Tuition | Tuition depends on program, student status, and year. Verify domestic and international tuition on the official fee schedule. |
|---|---|
| Scholarships | Check automatic entrance awards, competitive major awards, faculty scholarships, and international-student awards. |
| Living Costs | Budget for residence or rent, food, books, transit, health insurance, winter clothing, and emergency funds. |
| Proof of Funds | International students should confirm current study-permit financial requirements and school-specific cost estimates. |
uOttawa entrance scholarships for Fall 2027
Reviewed October 9, 2026. Amounts and dates keep their published cycle.
The University of Ottawa Admission Scholarship pays $1,000 to $3,000 automatically from an 85% admission average.
- Published cycle
- Admission scholarships 2027 to 2028
- Average used
- Your admission average. uOttawa doesn't describe the course mix on its scholarship page.
- Renewal
- The page doesn't describe renewal for the Admission Scholarship. Several faculty and leadership scholarships list their own renewal rules.
- International applicants
- The Admission Scholarship is for full-time students in a direct-entry faculty; mature and transfer applicants aren't eligible. International students paying international fees in an English program also get the International English Admission Scholarship: $7,500 a term, up to $60,000 over four years.
Automatic awards and average bands
Use the award's published average basis and applicant category.
| Campus or audience | Average or selection | First-year amount | Later payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| uOttawa | 95% to 100% | $3,000 | Renewal isn't stated in this tableuOttawa automatic awards |
| uOttawa | 90% to 94.9% | $2,000 | Renewal isn't stated in this tableuOttawa automatic awards |
| uOttawa | 85% to 89.9% | $1,000 | Renewal isn't stated in this tableuOttawa automatic awards |
Reviewed against each row's official source. Recheck the source before you act, because dates and fees change.
Major awards that need action
An admission application doesn't complete these separate steps.
| Award | Published value | Who and how | Deadline status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schulich Leader Scholarship | $100,000 to $120,000 | Canadian citizens in their final year of high school or CEGEP, nominated by their school, entering STEM. | January 27, 2027. Fall 2027 date confirmedSchulich Leader Scholarship |
Reviewed against each row's official source. Recheck the source before you act, because dates and fees change.
Ottawa's 2027-28 admission scholarship bands
The University of Ottawa explicitly labels its automatic admission scholarship table for 2027-28. Eligible full-time students receive $3,000 at 95% to 100%, $2,000 at 90% to 94.9%, or $1,000 at 85% to 89.9%. The award covers direct-entry faculties and the Faculty of Law's Civil Law Section. Mature applicants and university transfers aren't eligible for this particular scholarship. Admission to the university doesn't establish eligibility for every scholarship on the overview page.
Use the admission average uOttawa assigns to your program. Keep it distinct from a future university GPA and from the grade average used for renewal of other awards. The automatic admission scholarship doesn't require a separate application, but a prestigious award or need-based bursary may. Check the row's application field before deciding that all awards on the page are automatic.
French Studies Bursary has course-language requirements
The French Studies Bursary currently lists $4,000 in total, or $1,000 a year. It depends on taking enough courses taught in French, or the permitted French-as-a-second-language courses for the immersion route. The official conditions specify three courses or nine units each term, with a two-course or six-unit route for French immersion. Registering in a bilingual university alone doesn't satisfy those course requirements.
Renewal for the following three years requires full-time registration, the required French coursework and a minimum cumulative GPA of 5.50 at the end of the academic year. The page allows some exceptions for exchange or programs where the French-unit requirement can't be met. Ask Financial Aid and Awards about your actual schedule before assuming an exception. Keep the bursary's recurring payment separate from the first-year admission scholarship.
Schulich nomination and submission are different deadlines
Ottawa's prestigious-scholarships table lists January 27, 2027 for Schulich Leader. The awarding body's current application page identifies that date as the school nomination deadline and February 17, 2027 as the deadline for the nominee's scholarship application and references. Complete both stages. Reading only the university's single deadline row could otherwise make you miss the separate student submission.
Schulich Leader values are $120,000 for engineering and $100,000 for eligible science, technology or mathematics degrees. You need Canadian citizenship, a school nomination and an eligible program at a partner university. Ottawa doesn't independently broaden the national rules to all health-related programs. The Schulich Leader guide links the official program list and explains the career-focus exclusions as the awarding body states them.
Faculty scholarships aren't one university-wide guarantee
uOttawa's overview includes faculty admission scholarships with separate average, program and continuation requirements. The Faculty of Arts Dean's Merit Scholarship, for example, lists ten renewable awards totalling $4,000 and uses a minimum 90% admission average. Its later GPA and unit requirements differ from those of the French Studies Bursary. A calculator showing the automatic admission band can't determine whether you're selected for a competitive faculty award.
Read each combination rule too. Some prestigious scholarships explicitly can't be combined with the admission scholarship. Other bursaries or faculty awards may have their own terms. Save the name and annual schedule from your offer, then ask Financial Aid and Awards which components can coexist. Don't sum headline values from several rows simply because your academic record meets their minimums.
International English and French routes are separate
International applicants should consult the International English Scholarships page and the Differential Tuition Fee Exemption Scholarship page. Their applicant groups, program requirements and fee effects aren't interchangeable with the domestic admission-award table. The French exemption is tied to the eligible French or immersion route and the source's conditions; it isn't a cash scholarship that can be added to the full international tuition figure without checking the resulting fee assessment.
If your program, language route or immigration status changes, ask the university to recalculate the fees and awards together. A tuition exemption can change the cost side of a budget rather than create money deposited to your bank. Retain any Fall 2027 confirmation from the university and label a yearless or previous-cycle value as a planning reference until it's confirmed for your intake.
Use uoZone and government aid for the remaining gap
uOttawa's online awards tools let you find awards requiring an application and submit the relevant form. You don't need to wait until every admission decision is finished to investigate those deadlines. Prepare activity information and any financial documents requested by the actual award. You write your own explanations and your referees supply their own statements; an award's published criteria don't support a guaranteed selection formula.
Ontario residents can apply for OSAP through the separate government system. uOttawa says co-op students apply for each term from their first work term when seeking aid, including work terms. Its OSAP guidance bases the study-period end on the last possible exam day rather than a general term-end label. Use OSAP deadlines by school and the school's instructions to plan scholarship payments and government funds against actual tuition due dates.
Apply through the uOttawa process
Apply to a direct-entry program. The Admission Scholarship is automatic.
Apply online for application-based awards such as faculty and leadership scholarships.
Entrance scholarship questions
Is the Ottawa admission scholarship paid in every year?
The Fall 2027 admission table describes a one-time award, not a renewable four-year grade scholarship. An 85%, 90% or 95% admission average leads to the applicable first-year band if you meet the other conditions. Later bursaries or faculty opportunities have separate requirements and should not be counted as renewals of that initial award.
How is the French Studies Bursary different from the entrance scholarship?
The bursary supports eligible study in French, with annual French-course and academic-progress conditions. Ottawa distinguishes the normal French-unit requirement from the immersion requirement. An English-language program offer or a single French course does not establish eligibility. Check your intended course registration and the bursary's own conditions before planning four annual payments.
Why does Ottawa list January 27 for Schulich Leader?
That is the school-nomination stage in the national 2027 competition. The nominee's application and references have a later national deadline. Your high school's internal choice may be earlier still. Ask which stage the date refers to; submitting an admission application does not substitute for the required school nomination.
Does an international tuition exemption arrive as a cash scholarship?
An exemption changes the applicable tuition charge; it is not necessarily a separate cash payment. Compare the tuition after an approved exemption with any scholarship offer, and confirm whether the benefits may be combined. Keep language, nationality, program and enrolment conditions attached to the actual exemption rather than applying them to every international applicant.
Official sources and cycle status
- Scholarships awards overview (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa scholarships awards overview guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- International english scholarship (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa international english scholarship guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- Differential tuition fee exemption scholarship (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa differential tuition fee exemption scholarship guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- Fees financial support (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa fees financial support guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- Fees (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa fees guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- Ontario residents (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa ontario residents guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 2026.
- Tuition international (opens in a new tab)
Official uOttawa tuition international guidance. Figures and dates retain the source's published cycle; yearless details require confirmation for Fall 2027. Checked October 9, 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 14, 2026 · Editorial, corrections, and source methodology