If, after reading through the following questions, you have any additional queries, please email eng.grad.admissions@utoronto.ca.
Times of 12:01 am ET and 11:59 pm ET are assumed for opening and closing dates, respectively, but we recommend that applicants try to meet closing deadlines by 5:00 pm because staff are not available beyond that time.
Applications can only be made online via the GradApp. In cases of extreme difficulty accessing the site, please email us at eng.grad.admissions@utoronto.ca.
After you complete the information section of the application and click “Continue” on the Review page, the system will take you to the combined payment / documents upload page. On that page, you can pay the application fee and upload all required supporting materials in whatever order you would like. You can also return to that page to make the payment and/or upload documents at any time until the application deadline.
Once you have reviewed and submitted the information section by clicking "Continue," you will not be able to edit your responses in that section. The system will take you to the combined payment / documents upload page, where you will be able to pay your application fee, upload pdfs (transcripts, writing sample, Statement of Purpose), edit your recommender/referee information, and send reminder emails to your recommenders. You will be able to return to the combined payment / documents upload page until applications close.
After applications close, if you realise you made an error with an uploaded pdf, please contact eng.grad.admissions@utoronto.ca as soon as possible.
If you decide not to continue with your GradApp, you are also asked to please email the Department of English Graduate Admissions, as it is very helpful to know if you have withdrawn your application.
You can view the status of your GradApp through your applicant status portal. We will not confirm receipt of documents by phone, email or mail.
Yes. The University will be closed for the winter holidays from 24 December 2025 to 2 January 2026 inclusive and will reopen at 8:45 am on 5 January 2026. However, technical assistance will be unavailable. The Department of English will begin to respond to inquiries that were submitted over the break starting 5 January 2026.
The entry requirements for the MA, MA CRW, and PhD programs can be found on the Application Information page under "Programs."
Yes, a writing sample is required for the PhD, PhD Direct Entry, MA, and the MA in the Field of Creative Writing programs. You can find more details on the Application Information page.
No. Students in the PhD program will need to show proficiency in French by the third year of their PhD, but it is not an entry requirement for either the MA or the PhD degree.
For the application deadline in December and the deadline to submit official digital transcripts in January, please consult the Application Information page.
Writing samples:
By the application deadline in December, all applicants must upload their writing sample to GradApp. Do not send a hard or electronic copy to the Department.
Exception - MA in English in the Field of Creative Writing portfolios with large photos/illustrations: a hard copy must be sent by mail to the following address and be received by the application deadline:
Tanuja Persaud, Graduate Admissions
Department of English, Rm 605
170 St. George Street
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
Transcripts:
- By the application deadline in December: Upload PDFs (with grading legend) to GradApp.
- By the deadline to submit official digital transcripts in January: Arrange for official digital transcripts to be received by the Department (e.g., via MyCreds or Parchment, or sent directly by the institution to tanuja.persaud@utoronto.ca).
- If an institution cannot provide digital transcripts, contact tanuja.persaud@utoronto.ca for instructions on submitting hard copies.
Letters of recommendation:
By the application deadline in December: your two (and no more than two) referees must upload their letters directly to GradApp. Letters cannot be mailed or emailed.
Yes. Applicants must list all post-secondary institutions attended on their GradApp application. This includes BA, MA, PhD, certificate, non-degree, or special student studies. You must list all institutions attended, even if a degree was not granted. Transcripts must be complete and include legend/grade scale/guide. Applicants who attended universities outside of Canada must provide notarized English translations to accompany all foreign documentation not written in English.
If academic records are interim, pending completion of studies in progress, official final academic records indicating that the degree has been conferred must be submitted to the graduate office as soon as possible and before admission can be finalized.
Regarding Official Transcripts for current or former University of Toronto students only, please contact eng.grad.admissions@utoronto.ca for clarification before ordering Official transcripts from the University of Toronto.
No. All programs commence in September.
No. If your first language is not English but you have completed your admitting degree at a University where English is the primary language of instruction, you do not require testing of language proficiency.
You may require an attestation letter from the university registrar; see the SGS webpage on English Language Proficiency for information about possible exemptions. Otherwise TOEFL (or equivalent) scores must be supplied. Overall TOEFL scores must be 100 or higher with minimum scores of 22 in both writing and speaking sections.
Please see the SGS website for other accepted language tests (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS, COPE, CAEL, the Academic Preparation Course International ESL Program at the School of Continuing Studies, U of T).
No. Letters of recommendation must be academic. Faculty usually keep records for a considerable time, so choose instructors that knew you best and contact them.
No. If you wish to be considered for more than one program, you must complete a separate GradApp for each program and submit the necessary supporting documents for each program.
Yes, but we have a very limited number of places for part-time MA students. Part-time students have 6 years to complete the degree and can take a maximum of 2.5 full courses per annum and a minimum of 0.5. The cost is the same as a full-time MA, but it is spread over 6 years. If you wish to apply for the part-time MA, you must indicate this in the GradApp.
Most Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents, and some international applicants (see immediately below), should apply for the the SSHRC CGRS D.
To be eligible to apply for a CGRS D, you must have completed a bachelor's degree (if you are applying to a direct-entry PhD program) at a Canadian university or have completed or be about to complete a master's degree in the humanities or social sciences at a Canadian university (or be already pursuing a PhD or equivalent or a combined MA/PhD at a Canadian university).
All applicants, domestic or international, should apply for the OGS.
If you are admitted into the PhD or PhD U program and your applications are unsuccessful, you will receive the minimum financial support package upon registration in the program.
Unfortunately, there are very few departmental admission scholarships for incoming MAs. However OGS and SSHRC CGRS M are available to MA students and should be applied for before applying to the program. Full-time domestic students will also be considered for internal awards. There are no internal award opportunities for part-time or visa students.
Regardless of whether or not your BA is in English, you are eligible for admission into the MA program as long as you have taken (or will take by the time you graduate) a minimum of 7 full (year-long) courses in English. However, it is possible to enrol in undergraduate courses as a Non-Degree or Special Student (see Applying as a Non-Degree Student) and these credits would be considered equivalent to your degree credits. Please contact U of T with any further questions on this topic.
You will be able to track receipt of documents through the GradApp. Transcripts may be mailed directly from the issuing institution to the department, or you may mail them directly to the department -- but only if the institution does not issue official digital transcripts.
Tanuja Persaud, Graduate Admissions
Department of English, Rm 605
170 St. George Street
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
We expect to notify PhD applicants about admission decisions in late February/early March.
Admitted and waitlisted MA applicants will generally be notified of their status by early March; applicants not admitted to the MA program may not receive notification until late March/early April.
All final decisions will be communicated by May 31.
Normally, applicants to the PhD program do have an MA in English, but students with either an MA in English OR an MA in a field closely related to English, such as Comparative Literature or Medieval Studies, are eligible for admission into the PhD program. (In either case, the degree must be from a recognized university, with an average grade equivalent to at least a University of Toronto A– in the applicant's overall program.)
Applicants without an MA degree of any kind OR with an MA in a field unrelated to English should apply to the PhD U (direct-entry) program. (To be eligible for admission, you must have a bachelor's degree from a recognized university that includes at least 8.0 full-course equivalents [FCEs] -- that is, the equivalent of 16 semester-long courses -- in English, with an exceptionally strong record in English and an average grade equivalent to at least a University of Toronto A– in the applicant's overall program.)
Applicants with an MA in a field closely related to English or in any doubt about their eligibility should apply to the PhD program but will be considered on a case-by-case basis and determined to be eligible for either the PhD or the PhD U (direct-entry) program.
No. Supporting documents submitted as part of an application become property of the Department of English and cannot be returned.
No. We are not able to grant Application Fee waivers or exemptions.
No, the Department of English does not require GRE scores to be submitted with your GradApp for the PhD, PhD Direct Entry, MA, and the MA in the Field of Creative Writing programs. These results will not be considered with your master's or doctoral applications.
The department cannot provide feedback or information specific to any individual application. Given the large number of applications under review, admissions committee members do not provide written appraisals of individual applications, nor is a record kept of committee deliberations.