MScSM | Required Documents

The next available MScSM Program begins in September 2025. The online application system for that program will open on October 1, 2024 and will close March 15, 2025.

Below are the required documents for an application to the MScSM program. Please note that we only review and consider completed applications (by the final application deadline). 

What you need to Apply - required documents:

Please note that we only consider completed applications. A completed application includes all the following documents and paying the application fee.

Application documents required for submission to your online application package must include:

Application Fee

  • Application Fee ($125 CDN - credit card required). Please note that the application fee is required and is non-refundable and non-transferable, as per UofT Policy. Instructions on how to pay the fee is available on the online application system.
  • Your application will not be assessed or considered and you will not be able to upload the required documents to the online application system until the application fee is paid.

Application Form

  • Completed the online application form.
  • You must enter your FULL legal name - how it appears on your passport and other official governmental ID that you will be required to provide to the university, if accepted to the program. The information in your online application must match your legal official documents (passport, governmental ID, etc).
  • Avoid typos - ensure you have spelled your name correctly and that your birth date, current legal status, and all other information is correct. This cannot be changed after you complete the form. All your submitted documents and subsequent valid ID must match what you have entered on the application form.
  • Please note it is very important that, in addition to providing your full and legal name, mailing address, and other contact information, you must indicate your legal status in Canada at the time of application: Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident of Canada, or Student Permit. If you are not a Canadian Citizen, or do not have a PR Card, at the time of application, then you must indicate that you will be in Canada on a Study Permit.
  • There are main be some sections on the application form that do not pertain to the MScSM program. This online application system is for most of the 300+ graduate programs at UofT and some customization for each program is not possible. If you have any questions about the online application form, please email us for clarification: mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca

Resume

  • Although work experience is not required, appropriate work will be considered as part of the application. However, work experience will not compensate for GPA or IELTS scores that do not meet our minimums.
  • Your resume should include academic and experiential background
  • Your resume should include the course code and title of both a statistics course AND a Research Methods course you have taken 
  • Your resume should be 1-3 pages, maximum.

Reference Letters

  • Two reference letters are required
  • Please note that the current application system allows up to 5 reference letters. The application system is for all 300+ graduate programs, of which some allow up to 5 letters. The MScSM Program only allows TWO reference letters. If you submit more than two, we will only consider the first two reference letters submitted.
  • If you are currently a student, at least one of the reference letters must be an academic one, from a professor/instructor. The other letter can be from an employer who has supervised you (perhaps from a recent summer job or internship) or from a supervisor of any volunteer work you may have done. However, you can have two academic reference letters, if you'd like.
  • If you are no longer a student and have been out of school for a few years, then two professional recent reference letters are acceptable instead of academic reference letters, as your professors may no longer know you.
  • It is best to have referees who know you well and are recent 
  • Please note that a referee must be someone who has supervised you, whether at university or work or a volunteer position. It cannot be a friend or a relative.
  • Once an applicant has opened their online application and paid the application fee, applicants enter their referees' contact information - name, title, and email address. Please note that referees must have institutional email addresses in their contact information. Email addresses such as @yahoo or @hotmail or @gmail or any non-institutional email address will not be accepted as contact emails for referees. An institutional email address is one with a company or university in the email address such as: @ibm.com or @uguelph.ca and so on.
  • Once the applicant has paid the application fee and entered the referees' information, an automatic email will be sent to the referees with specific instructions on how to submit their reference letters directly to the program admission team, not the applicant. The referee must be someone who supervised the applicant's academic or work or volunteer experience such as a professor or a boss.
  • The information we are looking for in a reference letter should include, but is not limited to: How do you know the applicant? For how long have you known the applicant? How did the applicant perform in class/at work? Will the applicant be able to succeed in graduate school, in a rigorous demanding program? Does the applicant have leadership skills or potential? Can the applicant work alone and in a group?
  • Please note that although the online application system does send an email to referees with instructions on how to properly submit their reference letter, it is still ultimately the responsibility of the applicant to advise their referees of the final application deadline, and/or any interim application deadlines, to ensure timely submission of reference letters. If an applicant notices that their referees have not submitted their reference letters (after a reasonable time), applicants are advised to send an email to their referees reminding them of submission. The automatic system only provides referees with the final submission deadline of March 15, 2025. If you are planning to meet one of our interim deadlines of November 30, 2024 or January 31, 2025, it is up to you to advise your referees.
  • Please also note that reference letters are confidential and cannot be submitted by the applicant.

Transcripts

  • Transcripts from EACH post-secondary institution that you have attended. If you have a graduate degree already, you must submit both that transcript and your undergraduate transcript: not just your latest transcript but all post-secondary transcripts. (Please note we do not accept, nor consider, high school transcripts).
  • For international students whose undergraduate bachelor degree was not in English, both the original official transcript in the original language and an official English translation are required.
  • As per the instructions on the online application system, applicants must upload scanned/electronic versions of all post-secondary transcripts (these are considered unofficial but are required) as part of the admission process AND the official hard copy transcript must be mailed to the MScSM Program Office.
  • When an applicant uploads their unofficial transcript to the online application system, they MUST include the grading scale/legend (usually on the back of a transcript).
  • Please note however that applicants are subsequently required to arrange for their official hard copy transcripts to be mailed directly to the MScSM Program Office (If you are not sure of the exact MScSM Program Office mailing address, please email mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca).
  • Official transcripts must be submitted for an application to be considered complete and ready for consideration and assessment. Official transcripts are those transcripts that are sent directly from the applicant's university to the MScSM Program Office, in a sealed envelope with the university seal on the flap of the envelope. Please see our note below regarding arranging official transcripts during COVID.
  • UofT applicants must upload their electronic transcript but are not required to arrange for an official transcript to be mailed to the MScSM Program Office. The Admissions Committee will download an official UofT transcript when we begin our review (which can take a few weeks after an application is in the Under Review status).
  • Please note that, during these COVID and post-COVID times, not all universities are able to mail hard copy transcripts.  We understand this and will certainly accept an electronic copy of official transcripts that are emailed through a secure system, directly to our Program (emailed from the university authorized person like a Registrar, not the applicant!).  If your university is only forwarding emailed official transcripts at this time - that is fine - please have them email it to us at mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca 
  • Fourth year student applicants can open their online application any time, and begin to submit the required documents such as resume and letter of intent, however, fourth year students must wait to submit the transcript that contains all grades to date, including Fall 2024 grades (this transcript is usually available in mid January 2025). The early interim application deadline of November 30, 2024 is not an option for fourth year student applicants.
  • Please email the Program Coordinator at mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca with any questions regarding transcripts. Our full mailing address is listed under the "Contact Us" section of this website. Do not send transcripts to any other UofT mailing address except the MScSM Program Office at the Mississauga Campus of UofT. Sending it to any other department or campus will delay processing your application. If you are unsure of our mailing address, please email mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca. This is a large campus with many departments and it is vital that the correct and full mailing address is listed.
  • For UofT applicants, you are required to upload your unofficial transcript to the online  application system however, we can download your official UofT transcript, once your application is complete and we are in the process of reviewing it (not before).

Statistics or Calculus Course

  • For the required credit in Statistics or Calculus - this should appear on your undergraduate transcript that you will be submitting. (A statistics or calculus course in secondary school/high school does not satisfy this requirement).
  • This is a mandatory admission requirement.
  • This course must be a credit course as part of an undergraduate bachelor degree from an accredited university. Statistics courses that are non-credit, part of a continuing studies program, or a college, or a certification program, do not satisfy this requirement.
  • If your statistics course has a different title such as quantitative methods or something that does not readily indicate that it is a statistics course, then you are required to submit the official full course syllabus (not just a short course description) for that course so that we can determine if it contains enough statistics to satisfy our admission requirement. Submit/upload a PDF of the statistics course syllabus/outline with the PDF version of your transcript.
  • Please note that the required grade in a stats or calculus course is B-.
  • If your stats or calculus grade is lower than B-, you may be still be considered for admission however, we may require that you re-take stats and achieve the minimum B-, before you start the MScSM program (a condition on your offer).

Research Methods Course

  • It is preferred that applicants have taken a Research Methods course in their four-year undergraduate bachelor degree program. A Research Methods course is one that introduces the language of research (i.e. terminology), ethical principles, and the elements of the research process including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. Understanding research methodologies is an important skill for graduate school as it helps students obtain a solution to a problem.
  • If an applicant has taken a Research Methods course, please list the course (with course code and title as listed on your official transcript) on your Resume.
  • If an applicant has not taken a Research Methods course, please still apply to our program! Accepted students may be asked to complete a Research Methods course before the program begins.

English Proficiency - IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge English Qualifications - for International Students

  • TOEFL or IELTS official electronic score report that meets our minimum requirements is required if your four-year undergraduate bachelor degree is not from a Canadian or English instruction university.
  • If your undergraduate degree is not in English instruction but you are residing and/or working in an English speaking country, you must still take IELTS or TOEFL and achieve our minimum acceptable scores.
  • Please note that you must arrange for the official TOEFL/IELTS score report to be sent electronically to UofT Graduate Studies. The TOEFL institution code for UofT is 0982. Please use this number when arranging the delivery of your official TOEFL score report. For IELTS, please select University of Toronto Graduate Studies or Enrolment Services. The MScSM Program cannot receive TOEFL or IELTS electronic score reports. They must be sent to the central departments of Graduate Studies or Enrolment Services to be processed and made available to graduate programs (including the MScSM program).
  • Please also note that meeting the minimum standard in IELTS or TOEFL does not guarantee admission to the MScSM Program. For IELTS, we require minimally 7.0 overall band and 7.0 in all sections (reading, writing, listening and speaking).
  • For TOEFL, we require minimally 100 in the total score and at least 22 in each section (reading, writing, listening and speaking).
  • New: the School of Graduate Studies has revised its regulations to include Cambridge English Qualifications as an additional English language proficiency test acceptable for admission to graduate studies at U of T.  Effective immediately (October, 2022), applicants whose admitting degree was not taught or examined in English can use Cambridge English Qualifications to satisfy the ELP requirement. Holders of the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency with an overall score of 185, with at least 176 for each component now meet the standard admission requirement for English proficiency. Applicants can have their scores sent electronically to the University of Toronto; scores do not expire. Further details are available on the SGS website.

Letter of Intent

Please note that the Letter of Intent for MScSM applicants is responding to five questions, listed below:

  • (i) What is the current 'big' question in sustainability?(150 words); 
  • (ii) Sustainability - it's not just what we do, but what we do differently - explain.
  • (iii) Will the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as a framing device, shape the future of sustainability? (150 words);
  • (iv) How does climate news affect our lives and communities, and what can we do about it? (150 words);
  • (v) Which person or leader has impacted your life, and how? (150 words).
  • Please respond to all 5 questions in the 5 individual sections on the online application.

GRE/GMAT

  • We do not require GRE or GMAT

Sections on online application: Collaborative Program, Field of Study, Combined Degree and Proposed Area of Study

  •  Responses in these four sections are not required

Some Tips

  • Please note that we only review completed application files - all required documents must be submitted online (application fee, transcripts, resume, letter of intent and reference letters) and achieve our minimum requirements to be reviewed and considered for admission. We do not accept or consider late applications.
  • Applicants have until March 15, 2025 to complete their online application.
  • If your IELTS or TOEFL scores do not meet our minimum standards, your application file will be considered incomplete and not reviewed until you do submit an official score report that meets our minimums - by the final application deadline.
  • However, you do not need to submit all required documents at the same time. Once you open your application file, by completing the online form and paying the $125 application fee via credit card, you can submit the required documents as they become available - as long as your application file is complete by the final deadline of March 15, 2025.
  • No late or incomplete applications will be accepted or considered.

For more information, please refer to our FAQ page and our Application Essentials document. In addition, please contact an Admission officer at mscsm.utm@utoronto.ca with any questions!