Entrance scholarships & awards

To be eligible, candidates entering from a Canadian high school must normally be:

• A Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada
• An international student completing a Canadian secondary school diploma
• Entering their first year of an undergraduate degree program
• A current secondary school student or have graduated within the last two years and have not attended a post-secondary institution
• Admitted to UVic with a minimum admission average of 90% or a minimum of 32 International Baccalaureate (IB) point

To be eligible, candidates transferring from another Canadian college or university must normally:

• Be transferring directly (only one semester without studies between institutions) from an undergraduate program at a Canadian college or university into a UVic undergraduate degree program
• Have a minimum 12.0 transferable graded units

• Have a 7.5/9.0 (UVic scale) transfer or diploma admission average and have sent a final transcript to Undergraduate Admissions by the required scholarship deadline

Returning UVic transfer students:

If you are returning to UVic after attending another Canadian post-secondary institution you will need to contact Student Awards and Financial Aid to be assessed for a transfer scholarship. Returning UVic students still need to be transferring directly (only one semester without studies between institutions) from a Canadian college/university. Students must send in their final transcripts to Undergraduate Records by the required deadlines. Transcripts are not automatically forwarded to Student Awards and Financial Aid. It is the returning student's responsibility to ensure that they have contacted our office for scholarship review by the required deadlines.

To be eligible, Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada entering from a high school outside of Canada must normally be:

• Entering their first year of an undergraduate degree program
• A current high school student or have graduated within the last two years and have not attended a post-secondary institution
• Admitted to UVic with a minimum admission average of 90% or a minimum of 32 International Baccalaureate (IB) points

Students enrolled in the North Island Dual Admission Program will be eligible for consideration for a secondary school entrance scholarship. UVic will automatically assess students for an entrance scholarship based on their Grade 12 final marks provided by North Island College.

Entrance scholarships will be deferred until the student enters UVic and registers in 12.0 graded units at the University of Victoria in two consecutive terms of study, provided they enter UVic within the time frame of the Dual Admission Program. If a student does not register and maintain enrolment in 12.0 graded units, their scholarship will be withdrawn. Please note, students must contact the Entrance Scholarship Officer (awards2@uvic.ca) to have their scholarship activated when they enter UVic.

Note: students are ineligible for any other UVic administered scholarships until their entrance scholarship is fully paid out.

To be eligible, international undergraduate students must normally be:

• Entering their first year in an undergraduate degree program at UVic and meet UVic's academic and English proficiency requirements. See English Language Proficiency requirements
• A current secondary school student or have graduated within the last two years and have not attended a post-secondary institution
• Admitted to UVic with a competitive admission average
• An international student studying at UVic on a Canadian study permit (changes to your citizenship status may effect your scholarship eligibility)

To be considered for an international scholarship all documents, including an interim (current student) or final (graduated student) transcript, must be received by Undergraduate Admissions by March 15 for entry either in September or January of the academic year. Scholarships will be assessed based on your admission GPA.

Entrance and transfer scholarships and awards are offered to undergraduate students entering UVic directly from secondary schools offering a Canadian curriculum or transferring from a Canadian college or university.

• Except where the terms of reference for an undergraduate scholarship or award otherwise specify, recipients must normally register and maintain enrolment in a minimum of 12.0 units or more for credit, of which 10.5 units are graded using the standard nine point scale, in their first winter session (September to April) to receive the scholarship or award. 

• Students entering undergraduate programs in the January to April term of study must normally register and maintain enrolment in a minimum of 6.0 units for credit, of which 4.5 units are graded using the standard nine point scale, to receive the scholarship or award.

• Students with a disability, including those who are approved to study at a reduced course load, are eligible to be considered for scholarships and awards. Students with a disability must maintain registration in a minimum of 6.0 units for credit, of which 4.5 units are graded using the standard nine point scale, in the winter session (September to April) to receive a scholarship or award. Students entering in the January to April term of study must maintain registration in a minimum of 3.0 units for credit in that term, of which 1.5 units are graded using the standard nine point scale. Students must identify themselves to SAFA and provide supporting documentation from the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL).

• Deferral of a scholarship or award for up to one year may be granted upon approval of a request for deferral of entry point to Undergraduate Admissions.

• Students who enrol in a minimum of 12.0 units for credit (6.0 units for credit for students with a disability) and subsequently withdraw from courses resulting in them falling below 12.0 units for credit (6.0 units for credit for students with a disability) in the winter session (September to April) or fall below 6.0 units for credit (3.0 units for credit for students with a disability) if they entered their program in the January to April term of study, will have their scholarship or award revoked. 

• The University reserves the right to limit the amount of money awarded to any student and, if necessary, to reassign scholarships and awards to other students. 

• Except where the terms of reference for the scholarship or award state otherwise, the funding issued by or through SAFA will be applied towards the student’s assessed tuition and fees for the winter session (September to April). If the funding awarded exceeds the total amount of tuition and fees due for the winter session, the balance will be paid to the student so long as they maintain registration in at least 12.0 units for credit (6.0 units for credit for students with a disability). Students should contact the Tuition Office to request a refund.

• Students who entered their program in the January to April term of study will have their scholarship or award applied towards their assessed tuition and fees for the term. If the funding awarded exceeds the total amount of tuition and fees due for the term, the balance will be paid to the student so long as they maintain registration in at least 6.0 units for credit (3.0 units for credit for students with a disability). Students should contact the Tuition Office to request a refund.

• A scholarship or award may be withheld or cancelled if there is a lack of suitable candidates, if a donor withdraws the scholarship or award or if the recipient withdraws from UVic or fails to meet the eligibility criteria for the scholarship or award. 

To be automatically considered for entrance scholarships based on admission average, current grade 12 students completing the BC curriculum MUST order transcripts through StudentTranscripts Service (STS) when they submit their university application through EducationPlannerBC. BC students must choose the default option which allows updates for one year. 

Current grade 12 Canadian secondary students outside of BC, including international students completing a Canadian secondary school diploma and students who are in accelerated entry, MUST self-report their grade 12 marks between February 15 and March 15. Students completing an International Baccalaureate Diploma can also self-report their IB marks. 

Learn about self-reporting

Please note:

• All self-reported grades will be verified against official grades from your school*
• If a student does not sign up for STS, or does not self-report their grade 12 marks, they will not be considered for entrance scholarships based on admission average at a later date
• UVic does not round up percentages. Actual marks will be used in assessment.

*As early scholarship offers are based on self-reported marks, we will be reviewing final marks in August before finalizing scholarship offers. Students must also register as a full-time student in order to receive their UVic scholarship funds.

To be automatically considered for an entrance scholarship based on admission average students must send in an interim transcript to Undergraduate Admissions by March 15th. 

International students must be admitted to the University of Victoria before being considered for an entrance scholarship. Eligible candidates are automatically referred to Student Awards & Financial Aid by Undergraduate Admissions.

• International students must send in an interim transcript (if a current secondary school student) or a final transcript (if a student has graduated within two years of application and has not attended another post-secondary institution) by March 15 to Undergraduate Admissions to be assessed for an International Scholarship.
• Eligible candidates are automatically referred to Student Awards & Financial Aid by Undergraduate Admissions.

To be automatically considered for a transfer scholarship, students MUST be transferring directly from an undergraduate program at a Canadian college or university into a UVic undergraduate program and have a 7.5/9.0 (UVic scale) transfer or diploma admission average  and have sent a final transcript to Undergraduate Admissions by the required scholarship deadline. Please note, if you are in a specialized program such as Nursing, Engineering, or Business, we will use the required courses for your program for GPA assessment.

All transfer students must be transferring directly (one semester without studies between their current institution and transferring into UVic) from a Canadian college or university into a UVic undergraduate degree program. 

*Please note, if you are a returning student to UVic you need to contact Student Awards and Financial Aid for a scholarship review as your assessment is not automatic. Students will need to have transcripts in by the required deadlines.