University of Saskatchewan pharmacy admission requirements: 60 credit units, a 70% minimum, Casper and a video interview

USask says plainly that you cannot begin the PharmD directly from high school. The four year degree does not include the two years of university study you need first. Pharmacy is one of USask's non-direct programs, so in Grade 12 you apply to a direct entry college. Most pre-pharmacy students start in the College of Arts and Science.

USask lists Biomedical Sciences as a good base for Pharmacy and Nutrition. Its suggested first two years include BMSC 200, 207, 208, 210 and 230 and CHEM 250, which are all on the pharmacy list. You would still need to add BIOL 121, CHEM 255, NUTR 120, STAT 246, English, Indigenous learning and electives. A Biology major works too. Pick a degree you would be happy to finish, because the College tells applicants to plan for a backup.

For Arts and Science, USask asks for Grade 12 standing, a 70% minimum on a five subject average, and Foundations of Mathematics 30 or Pre-Calculus 30. For Ontario students, the Biology page shows Mathematics of Data Management 4U or Advanced Functions 4U. Work out your number with our Top 6 average calculator.

USask says there are no specific high school requirements for the PharmD itself. It does say Grade 12 math, biology and chemistry are often needed for the university courses you'll take, and Grade 12 physics is recommended. USask notes that Biology 30 is a prerequisite for BIOL 120, even though it is not needed for Arts and Science admission.

So take Grade 12 biology, chemistry and a math, even if your first year college doesn't demand all three. Use our high school course planner to check your timetable.

The table above is the list for fall 2027 admission. Fall 2027 is the first year that needs 3 credit units of Indigenous learning, and electives drop from 15 to 12 credit units. For the 2027 cycle only, the College may accept a gap in Indigenous learning if you finish it before year 2.

The College has also posted changes for 2028 admission. It adds CHEM 115 (general chemistry II), keeps only CHEM 250 for organic chemistry, drops BMSC 230, asks for STAT 244 or STAT 245 for statistics, and accepts any English course. If you start university in fall 2027, you would apply in 2029 at the earliest, so plan with the newest list and check it each year.

One more page disagrees. The College's Doctor of Pharmacy page still shows an older list, with 15 credit units of electives and no Indigenous learning course. The admissions pages show the newer list. Confirm with the College at pn-admissions@usask.ca before you lock in courses.

Your admission average uses all your post-secondary courses, including failures. The 60 credit units of required courses count for 60% of it. Your cumulative university average counts for the other 40%. The minimum is 70%.

Your final admission score is 75% academic average and 25% video interview. Casper is a gate. You must reach a minimum ranking on it to be considered, but it is not given a weight on the College page. USask says most people offered admission have had averages well above 75%. It does not publish an admitted average or a cutoff.

Repeats are tricky. In the prerequisite part, the College uses the higher grade only if your first grade was below 60%. Otherwise it averages the two attempts. Extra years of study don't earn a bonus, and courses taken in spring or summer just before fall entry come in too late.

Every applicant writes Casper through Acuity Insights. It is a 60 to 90 minute online situational judgement test. The admissions page says it costs $50, plus $18 for each school that gets your results. For the 2027 cycle, the College posted test dates from July 19, 2026 to April 8, 2027.

There are no face to face interviews. You'll be invited to a video interview after the March 15 deadline. Both pages say it must be done between March 16 and March 31, 2027. Their application checklists also say late January to March 31, 2027. Treat March 16 to 31 as the firm window and confirm with the College.

The College does not use the PCAT. It also does not use reference letters, and work or volunteer experience is not an admission criterion. The interview asks why you chose pharmacy and how you see the pharmacist's role, so learning about the job helps.

There are 90 first year seats. Up to 9 can go to people who are not Saskatchewan residents, and that includes international students. Up to 15% of seats are set aside for Indigenous Saskatchewan residents with verified membership or citizenship. One Saskatchewan student may be admitted under special circumstances.

Being a Saskatchewan resident means you have lived and worked full time in Saskatchewan for 12 months in a row before the deadline, without being a full time student. You can't qualify by attending school in Saskatchewan if your home is elsewhere. So an Ontario student who moves to Saskatoon for pre-pharmacy usually still applies as a non-resident.

For September 2027 entry, applications open in November 2026 and close on March 15, 2027 at 11:59 pm CST. The fee is $150. Final transcripts are due June 1, 2027. Offers go out by email in late June, and you get about 7 to 10 days to reply. You can't defer.

The 60 credit units must include 24 credit units taken in one academic year. The admissions page and the PharmD page say this is a must. The College admissions page calls it highly recommended. Plan a full year of at least 24 credit units to be safe.

For your first step, the Arts and Science Biology page lists July 15, 2027 for fall 2027, with documents due August 1, 2027. Apply far earlier to be considered for scholarships. See our Canadian deadlines page.

The 2026-27 catalogue lists the PharmD at 170 credit units: 49 in year 1, 47 in year 2, 42 in year 3 and 32 in year 4. Year 1 starts with PHAR 110.3 Introduction to Pharmacy and the Health Care System. Year 4 is made of four advanced practice placements: hospital, community, other direct patient care and an elective.

There is no co-op. Instead, USask lists forty weeks of practice experiences in community pharmacies, hospitals and specialty sites. The Experiential Learning Office runs everything from a 3 hour community visit in year 1 to an 8 week elective rotation in year 4.

USask lists PharmD tuition for 2026-27 of $24,539 for Canadian students in years 1 and 2, and $21,679 in years 3 and 4. Student fees are $1,331.66 and the College suggests at least $2,000 for books. International students pay $73,618 in years 1 and 2. A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due when you accept, and it goes toward tuition.

Your two pre-pharmacy years cost less. USask's first year estimate for Arts and Science (Science) is $8,449 for Canadian students in 2026-27.

Our estimate, not a USask figure: two Science years plus four PharmD years comes to about $109,334 in tuition at 2026-27 rates, before fees, books and rent. Rates rise most years.

Pharmacy itself is not a direct entry program, so your entrance scholarships come through the college you start in. USask gives 600 entering students a $5,000 USask Entrance Scholarship, based on admission average, in direct entry colleges including Arts and Science. Apply with all documents by December 1 to be considered.

The Best and Brightest awards are renewable, with values up to $40,000 over four years, and need a separate application by December 15. Competitive Entrance Awards need an admission application by February 15 and award forms by March 1.

Pharmacy at USask is a six year plan: two years of university, then four years of PharmD. With only 9 non-resident seats, a student from outside Saskatchewan should also apply to pharmacy schools at home, such as Waterloo, U of T or Manitoba.

The College asks applicants to choose a degree that still makes sense if pharmacy says no. It also says it is not possible to enter Nutrition and then switch to Pharmacy. See our USask guide for life in Saskatoon.