Universities in British Columbia: how to apply, Fall 2027 deadlines and what it costs from Ontario

BC's government lists 25 public post-secondary institutions. Its degree authorization page splits them into 11 public universities, public colleges and three public institutes.

The 11 universities are Capilano, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Kwantlen Polytechnic, Royal Roads, Simon Fraser, Thompson Rivers, UBC, the University of the Fraser Valley, the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University. All of them grant bachelor's and master's degrees. Five also grant doctoral degrees: Royal Roads, SFU, UBC, UNBC and UVic.

Trinity Western University is private. The province lists it as a private degree-granting institution, and it has had legislative authority to grant degrees since 1988.

The three public institutes are BCIT, the Justice Institute of British Columbia and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. They can offer associate and bachelor's degrees.

EducationPlannerBC is BC's application service. The account is free, and it lets you apply to any of BC's 25 public institutions. It also has program search and transfer credit tools.

You pay each school's own application fee when you submit. Fees differ a lot. TRU charges domestic applicants $34.23, Capilano $50 for two programs, SFU $86 and UVic $89.50.

UBC says you apply through EducationPlannerBC too, and you pick a first and second choice of degree. UBC also asks for a personal profile, so write it outside the form first. Read our UBC personal profile guide. On October 7, 2026, EducationPlannerBC still showed UBC as offline. UBC says its application opens in early October.

Two exceptions: Royal Roads is listed as an external application, and Trinity Western uses its own portal.

UBC: apply by January 15, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. If you're a Canadian and want the Presidential Scholars, Centennial Scholars or Beyond Tomorrow awards, apply by December 1, 2026. International students apply by November 15, 2026 for International Scholars awards.

SFU: high school applicants can apply from October 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027.

UVic: most degree programs close January 31. If you send your grades by early December, UVic can consider you for early admission. UVic warns that programs can close at any time, so apply early.

If you're from Ontario, you'll be tracking these alongside your OUAC dates. Put them on one calendar with our Canadian deadlines list.

BC schools don't use OUAC. Your marks go to each school through its own process after you apply on EducationPlannerBC.

SFU's Ontario page asks for at least six Grade 12 U or M courses, including ENG4U with at least 70%. It looks at all your approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with more weight on its List A courses.

UBC says it considers your grades in all Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses, with special attention to courses tied to your degree. If you took a Grade 11 and Grade 12 course in the same subject, it focuses on the Grade 12 mark.

Capilano bases an Ontario applicant's average on ENG4U or ENG4C plus two other approved courses.

Check the table above before you pick Grade 12 courses. Data Management (MDM4U) does not replace Advanced Functions for programs that need Pre-Calculus 12. Our course planner can help.

In BC, citizenship or permanent residence decides your tuition, not your home province. UBC says your citizenship status usually decides whether you pay domestic or international fees. SFU's list of who pays domestic fees starts with Canadian citizens and permanent residents and says nothing about which province you live in.

For 2026-27, UBC's domestic Arts and Science rate is $206.69 per credit, or $6,200.70 for a 30-credit year. SFU estimates $7,673 for a year of tuition and fees, including a transit pass.

BC limits yearly increases in domestic tuition and mandatory fees to 2%. That limit doesn't cover international students.

Ontario students can still use OSAP. For 2026-27, Ontario's maximum for a single student at a public college or university in another province is $530 per week of study. See our OSAP guide.

BC's public colleges include Camosun, Coast Mountain, College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies, Douglas, Langara, North Island, Northern Lights, Okanagan, Selkirk and Vancouver Community College. BCIT is one of the three institutes. Colleges can offer associate degrees and applied bachelor's degrees.

BC has a formal transfer system. The BC Transfer Guide, run by the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) and funded by the province, shows how a course at one school counts at another. You can search course to course, block transfers and degree partnerships.

That makes a college start a real option if your average is close, or if you want smaller first-year classes at a lower cost. Check the guide course by course before you enrol. Our college transfer guide and transfer planner explain the steps, and our colleges directory lists the BC colleges we cover.

Start with the program, then the place. UBC has a Vancouver campus and an Okanagan campus. Compare them in our UBC Vancouver vs Okanagan guide. SFU has three campuses, covered in our SFU campus guide. UVic is in Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Our acceptance-rate pages show only what each school publishes: UBC, SFU and UVic. For program detail, see UBC Computer Science, UBC Sauder Commerce, UBC Engineering, SFU Engineering and SFU Business.

Several other universities publish later dates: VIU takes most applications to March 31, TRU to May 1 and KPU to July 1 for open-intake programs. UNBC takes Canadians on a rolling basis for its general degrees.

International fees are much higher, and BC's 2% limit doesn't apply to them. UBC's 2026-27 international Arts and Science rate is $51,530.40 for 30 credits. UBC also says international students starting in 2026-27 see increases of no more than 3% a year for the next four years.

Application fees rise too: $173.25 at UBC, $130 at SFU, $184 at UVic if any transcript is from outside Canada, and $135 at Capilano.

Dates can differ. UNBC's international deadline for general programs is July 11, and it warns that late applicants may not get study documents in time. Plan for your study permit early. Read our Caribbean pathways guide and the English test guide.

A typical plan of UBC, SFU and UVic costs $254 in application fees for a Canadian student: $78.50, $86 and $89.50. Other schools set their own fees, so check each one before you add it.

Living costs often matter more than tuition. SFU's own 2026-27 estimate, with residence, books and insurance, totals $25,452 for a Canadian student. Look at our BC scholarships page for awards that BC schools and funders offer.