Waterloo AFM admission requirements: the mid-80s average, 75% prerequisites and co-op only

Waterloo asks Ontario students for six Grade 12 U or M courses, including any Grade 12 U English, Advanced Functions (MHF4U) and Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U). Each of the three needs a final grade of at least 75%.

Waterloo recommends Principles of Financial Accounting and Mathematics of Data Management, but they aren't required. If you study outside Ontario, Waterloo's admission requirements search lists your equivalents. Plan your courses with our course planner.

Waterloo lists an admission average in the mid-80s for AFM. It's the level Waterloo gives for the program, not a guaranteed cut-off, and your required courses count toward the average Waterloo uses for scholarships.

Waterloo doesn't publish an AFM acceptance rate. See our Waterloo acceptance rate page for what Waterloo publishes, and work out your average on our Top 6 average calculator.

Unlike Waterloo's math and engineering programs, AFM doesn't use the Admission Information Form. Waterloo says the AIF isn't used in the application process for AFM or Sustainability and Financial Management.

Apply on OUAC by February 1, 2027, and send documents by February 15, 2027. Waterloo admits first-year students for September only. You can apply to AFM or SFM, but not both. You could also apply to Computing and Financial Management or Science and Financial Management. Note that CFM uses the AIF; read our Waterloo AIF guide.

Waterloo makes offers between December and May as it receives updated grades. It says most offers come in May, once second-semester midterm grades arrive, because it wants to compare similar sets of grades.

Ontario high school students get every offer by mid-May and have until 11:59 p.m. ET on June 1, 2027 to accept. Most entrance scholarships are also awarded in mid-May, after Waterloo sees your latest grades. Scholarships that need an application have deadlines from January to mid-April and are worth $4,000 up to $120,000.

AFM is offered by the School of Accounting and Finance in the Faculty of Arts and leads to a Bachelor of Accounting and Financial Management (BAFM). First year includes Waterloo's Value Suite, courses on ethics, judgment and how business decisions affect people, alongside Tech Stack courses in data and analytics.

Waterloo lists first-year AFM courses including Introduction to Financial Reporting and Managerial Decision Making 1 and 2, Professional Pathways and Problem Solving, Analytic Methods for Business 1 and 2, and Introduction to Global Financial Markets, plus other courses for a total of five a term.

After first year, 70 to 80% of your classes are AFM courses, such as Impact of Technology on Business, Corporate Taxation, Cases in Corporate Finance and Business Strategy. You can add one or two of seven career specializations: Assurance and Advisory, Business Leadership, Corporate Finance, Corporate Reporting, Public Equity and Wealth Management, Tax, or Venture Capital and Private Equity, with an optional focus in Emerging Technologies and Data Analytics.

Waterloo says AFM gives a direct route to the CPA and CFA designations. If you add its eight-month Master of Accounting, you skip the two-year CPA Professional Education Program. Its School of Accounting and Finance holds CPA Canada accreditation and is in the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program.

Recent AFM graduates Waterloo lists include a senior accountant at KPMG, a senior auditor at Royal Bank Financial Group and a program manager at Sun Life Financial.

AFM is co-op only. Your first work term is in the winter of second year, then you normally alternate school and work every four months. You finish with a study term in the fall of fifth year.

Waterloo's sample work terms include financial analyst roles at banks or investment firms, audit and assurance roles at professional services firms, and business analyst roles at large companies. You can return to the same employer for more than one term.

Waterloo's co-op fee for 2026/2027 is $836, charged several times over your degree on a schedule set by your program. Waterloo says it covers the cost of running co-op and isn't a fee for each job.

Co-op is also why Waterloo's AFM degree runs five years. Waterloo's published AFM sequence has four four-month work terms: winter of second year, fall of third year, and fall and spring of fourth year.

For 2026-27, Waterloo estimates two terms of AFM tuition and incidental fees at about $9,000 for Ontario students, $10,000 for students from other provinces and $58,000 for international students, based on fees for students starting in September 2026. Books add about $1,500. Waterloo warns that accounting and finance tuition is significantly higher in upper years.

Waterloo's entrance scholarships are automatic, based on your top six Grade 12 courses including required courses. A one-time $1,000 Merit Scholarship goes to averages of 85% to 89.9%, a $2,000 President's Scholarship to 90% to 94.9%, and the President's Scholarship of Distinction at 95% or more adds a $1,500 International Experience Award and/or a $1,500 Research Award to the $2,000. Check yours on our Top 6 average calculator.

AFM is a five-year path because co-op is built in, but your child earns while working. Budget for the higher upper-year tuition Waterloo warns about.

The three 75% minimums matter: a strong overall average won't cover a weak calculus mark. Compare AFM with other business programs on our business programs comparison.