University of British Columbia

Overview: Vancouver and Okanagan

The University of British Columbia was established when the provincial legislature passed the University Act in 1908, and it held its first classes in 1915. The Vancouver campus at Point Grey opened in 1925. UBC Okanagan in Kelowna opened as a UBC campus in September 2005. The two campuses are very different places to live: Vancouver is a large campus on the edge of a major city, while Okanagan is smaller and sits in a mid-sized interior city.

Degrees, admission averages and residence are handled per campus, so check which campus offers the degree you want before you apply. Some programs exist on only one of them.

How to apply and the 2027 dates

UBC's how to apply page walks you through choosing a degree, checking its admission requirements and naming a second choice. The application itself is submitted, and the non-refundable fee paid, through EducationPlannerBC, the portal used for most BC public post-secondary institutions. After you submit, UBC emails you about the documents it still needs and keeps in touch through its own Applicant Service Centre, where you can follow your status. BC students should include their Personal Education Number, and Ontario students their OUAC reference number, so UBC can receive grades electronically. UBC's dates and deadlines page lists these for the Winter Session that begins in September 2027:

• November 15, 2026: early deadline for international applicants who want to be considered for International Scholars Program awards.
• December 1, 2026: early deadline for Canadian citizens and permanent residents applying for the Presidential Scholars, Centennial Scholars Entrance or Beyond Tomorrow Scholars awards.
• January 15, 2027, 11:59 p.m. Pacific: application deadline.

The personal profile and how grades count

A distinctive part of UBC's application is the personal profile. You answer short questions about what they have done, learned and taken responsibility for, both in and out of school. UBC uses it to judge fit alongside grades, so it is not a formality. Good answers are concrete: a part-time job where you trained new staff, a family responsibility you carried, a club you rebuilt after it nearly folded. Draft answers early, keep them specific and ask someone to check that each one actually answers its question.

Grades in the required Grade 11 and Grade 12 courses (or equivalents) are the other half of the decision. Requirements differ by degree and by where you studied, so use UBC's requirement tool for your own curriculum. Students from US high schools are assessed on their own system; IB and AP courses can also matter, and our article on IB and AP at Canadian universities explains the general picture.

Costs and funding

Tuition and living costs differ by campus and by citizenship status. UBC publishes current rates on its official undergraduate tuition fees page and explains other first-year costs on its cost of attending page. Its scholarship deadlines come earlier than the admission deadline. International students will also need a study permit; the official starting point is the Government of Canada page on studying in Canada.

Getting ready with StudyBrix

The personal profile rewards clear, specific writing, and first-year courses reward steady study habits.

• Practise short, concrete answers with the academic English bridge deck.
• Brush up on terms like conditional offer and prerequisite with the Canadian applications glossary.
• For science and applied science, review chemistry readiness before first-year labs.
• Read what changes in first year to plan your first term.

Our guide to universities in Canada compares BC's EducationPlannerBC route with the systems in Ontario and Quebec.