MA program admission requirements
Academic Requirements
Applicants must have completed, or must be in the final year of an appropriate four-year bachelor's degree program or its University of Toronto evaluated equivalent with at least a mid-B (75%) standing in the final year of that program. Applicants educated in a country other than Canada should check the equivalent qualifications table before starting the online admission application.
Applicants must have a strong preparation in economics, including the following university-level courses.
- Two semesters of introductory economics (micro and macro)
- Two semesters of intermediate economics (micro and macro)
- Two semesters of calculus
- Two semesters of intermediate statistics or econometrics.
Please check the additional course information to ensure that you meet the minimum admission requirements for the MA before starting the online admission application.
Preference is given to students who have also completed upper-year courses in advanced economic theory, econometrics/statistics, and mathematics. (Note that economic theory courses sometimes are labelled by the topic that they cover such a "General Equilibrium Theory", "Business Cycles", or "Game Theory". We care about the content and not the label.)
Please note that meeting these minimum requirements does not imply automatic acceptance into the program. (See FAQ for the typical profile of a successful applicant.)
The admission process
Please read in full the application information and instructions prior to starting the university's online admission application to ensure you have informed yourself on essential information including: application deadlines, application processing time, planning for your application submission, how to apply, contact information and the application assessment process.
Deadlines
Once the university's online application form has been completed and the application fee paid (final deadline January 20, 2023), applicants will receive an email message from the Department of Economics with a link to a supplementary form. When this form is completed and the Economics Graduate Office has received all required supporting documentation (final deadline January 20, 2023), the department will begin to review and assess the application. To avoid any issues, we strongly advise applicants to complete their application and supplementary form well in advance of the deadline.
The application assessment process
The files of applicants who meet the minimum requirements, submit all the required documents by the deadline will be reviewed by the Department of Economics Admissions Committee. Note: The meeting of these requirements is only a necessary condition, not a sufficient condition, for acceptance into the program. The Admissions Committee normally starts to make first round offers from mid-March through early April and may continue with subsequent rounds of offers until June. All applicants will be notified either with an offer of admission or rejection of their application by the end of June.
Please also see our MA FAQ page for the answers to commonly asked questions.