Graduate Application Information and FAQs

A provincial attestation letter (PAL) is a letter provided by the province. It confirms that you’ve been assigned one of the available spaces to study in that province. Most study permit applicants need to provide a PAL when they apply, unless they meet one of the exceptions.

If you have not applied for a study permit prior to January 22, 2025, and you are not in a PAL exception category listed on the IRCC website, you’ll need to obtain a PAL from Carleton University.

Steps to obtain a PAL from Carleton University can be found here: https://graduate.carleton.ca/additional-information-for-international-students/. 

Yes, a tuition deposit of CAD$2,000 is required to obtain a PAL. The tuition deposit requirement is mandatory, cannot be waived, and is non-refundable, except in cases where a study permit is denied. Applicants need to accept their offer of admission and pay the CAD $2,000 tuition deposit. Once these conditions are met, Carleton will initiate the PAL process automatically. Within approximately 7-10 business days after the deposit payment has been received, applicants will be able to access their PAL in Carleton Central, along with their offer of admission. Notifications are not sent when the PAL is added to their account, so applicants must check Carleton Central a week after the deposit payment has been received by Carleton. 

Please note:  Wire transfer payments can take up to 14 days for verification. This verification time may delay issuance of the PAL.

The admissions committee does not review any qualifications or transcripts without the receipt of a formal application. However, you can visit Carleton’s International Requirements website to help determine your eligibility.

$120.00 CAD
To determine the most current exchange rate, visit the Bank of Canada currency exchange rate calculator. The application fee must be paid in Canadian dollars. The application fee is paid directly to Carleton University by Visa, MasterCard or INTERAC Online at the end of the application process. Once your fee payment has been processed, you will receive an email within 1–3 business days with further instructions on how to complete your application package via Carleton Central.

The application fees are determined by the central university administration and unfortunately, they do not grant fee waivers.

International students seeking study permit and immigration advice must contact the authorized advisors at Carleton’s International Student Services Office (ISSO). More specifically, ISSO’s Immigration Information and Support webpage provides information about international student status in Canada and resources for making applications to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). For additional support, please contact the ISSO directly at isso@carleton.ca.

Applicants recommend for admission will be provided with the following electronic documents on Carleton Central:

• an Offer of Admission,
• a Statement of Standing on Admission,
• and a Letter for International Students.

The documents above are to be submitted when applying for a study permit.

To be considered for admission to our M.A. in Economics, typically students must have completed the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree (four years) in Economics with an average overall grade of B+ (77-79%) or the minimum Carleton University equivalent Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 9.00 out of a maximum of 12.00.

The GPA is calculated using the applicant’s last 20 courses completed, based on most courses being completed in one semester or worth 0.5 credits. Credits completed outside the degree will also be counted.  The last 20 courses are identified simply by counting back in chronological order. Find out more about Carleton’s Grade Point System.

A grade of B+ (77-79%) or higher is also required in each area of advanced coursework in macroeconomics (ECON 4021), microeconomics (ECON 4020), and econometrics (ECON 4706).

For Fall intake to the M.A. and Ph.D. programs, all documents should be received by February 1st.
In order to be considered for first round financial assistance, your complete application including any supplementary documents (transcripts and letters of reference etc.) should be received by this deadline.

International applicants who require a study permit will not be considered for Fall  admission unless their applications are complete by May 1st.

For Winter intake to the master’s programs, all official documents from domestic applicants recommended for admission, should be received by December 15th, and all documents from international applicants recommended for admission, no later than August 1st.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required for the M.A. Program. However, it is recommended that applicants with degrees from universities outside Canada (especially from very different university systems) take the GRE so as to enable a more accurate assessment of their backgrounds. A copy of the GRE® Information and Registration Bulletin can be found at https://www.ets.org/pdfs/gre/gre-info-bulletin.pdf.

The master’s program is a course-based program, therefore applicants do not need to find a supervisor.
Once a student has completed their core master’s course requirements with a minimum A- in each, they may then submit an application to complete the thesis option (ECON 5909) or directed research course (ECON 5906).

If an applicant needs to list a supervisor for use in a scholarship application, they may list the MA Program Supervisor.

In order to obtain a visa, Citizenship and Immigration Canada requires that you prove that you have enough money to support yourself while studying in Canada. Carleton University estimates the costs of living and schooling at between $32,000 and $40,000 (CAD) per year (this estimate may vary depending on your program of study)—view the information.

M.A. program: Your chances of receiving financial assistance are greatest if your undergraduate degree is from a Canadian university and your undergraduate average is A- or higher.

Ph.D. program: Each year, a small number of outstanding applicants are awarded financial assistance. Generally, we only admit students to our program to whom we can award financial assistance.

Students may be offered: a teaching assistantship valued at $12,000; a graduate scholarship of between $2,000 and $10,000 for (domestic) M.A. students or between $5,000 and $15,000 for (domestic and international) Ph.D. students; and, if eligible, an entrance scholarship of $2,000 for domestic M.A. students or $3,000 for domestic Ph.D. students.

When planning to pay for your university education in Canada, it’s important to explore all of the funding options that are available to you from all sources. Please note that funding from Carleton (including teaching assistantships, research assistantships and scholarships) is limited to only a few outstanding international applicants. For more information on financial assistance for international students click here.

Information for international students about “Scholarships and Money Matters” can be found here: https://carleton.ca/isso/services-for-current-students/money-matters/

Full-time master’s students are expected to complete their 4.0-credit course requirements within two terms.
Part-time master’s students will take a minimum of four terms but have a maximum of 6 years to complete the program as set out in Section 13 of the General Regulations of the Graduate Calendar.

Please note, students who apply to study part-time are not eligible for funding, awards or scholarships.

Full- or part-time status is established at the time of admission to a program.

When you receive an admission offer from Carleton, please read the pink “Statement of Standing on Admission” form very carefully. This form tells you exactly what your program requirements are.

Tuition fee information can be found at www.carleton.ca/studentaccounts/tuition-fees.
When using the Tutition Fee Estimator, to calculate the fees for full-time study in our master’s program, enter the following information:

Term: Most recent fall term available: Fall [Insert Year of Admission] (September-December)
Level: Graduate
Year of Study: First Year
Full/Part Time: Full Time
Number of Courses: 1 (if your status is Full Time the number of courses does not matter)
Residency: Select Ontario, Other Canadian, or International
Program: Select “All other Masters Programs”
Include UPass Fee: Yes
Include UHIP Fee: Select Yes if you selected “International” for your Residency.
Then click ‘Estimate My Fees’.

Use the total provided and multiply that by the number of terms you expect to take to complete your program

Full-Time study:
x 2 if you plan to complete 4.0 credits over 2 terms.
x 3 if you plan to complete 4.0-6.0 credits over 3 terms.
Part-Time study:
typically x 4 to complete 2 courses per term over 4 terms.

Visit the Department of Housing and Conference Services at www.carleton.ca/housing or the International Student Services Office (ISSO) at www.carleton.ca/isso.

Registration information and instructions can be found at www.carleton.ca/registrar/registration.

If you are interested in studying accounting, marketing, or management at Carleton, you should be applying to the Sprott School of Business at www.carleton.ca/sprott.

There is no formal process for appealing admission decisions. You can discuss admission decisions with the program supervisor.

Our staff aim to respond to inquiries as promptly as possible. We constantly monitor our inbox (economics@carleton.ca). However, in accordance with Carleton University’s guidelines, please allow 3–5 business days for a response before following up. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

If you have studied within the last three years (full-time, non-ESL) in a university in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or any other country in which the primary language is English and where the language of instruction in the relevant educational institution was exclusively English, you need to complete the Confirmation of Language Proficiency form. You must then save and upload it with your required documents in Carleton Central as Document Type: Language Proficiency.

All applicants whose first language is not English must satisfy this requirement in one of the following ways:

(i) by presenting a CAEL overall band score of 70 or higher; or

(ii) by presenting a TOEFL iBT total score of 100 or higher with a score of 24 or higher on each of the four (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) sections; or

(iii) by presenting an IELTS overall band score of 7.0 or higher with a score of 6.5 or higher on each of the four (Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking) parts

(iv) A Duolingo (DET) overall score of 125 or higher, with a minimum score of 125 in each sub-score (Literacy, Conversation, Comprehension, and Production).

(v) by having completed ESLA 1900 or ESLA 1905 at Carleton University with a final grade of B- or higher

Note that applications for admission will be considered incomplete until the English language proficiency requirement has been met.

If you do not currently have language test scores, but intend to write a test at a later date, you should notify the academic unit to which you are applying.

You can access this letter in Carleton Central which is indicated as “Letter for International Students”. It contains the information required by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for your study permit application. This should be submitted along with your Offer of Admission and Statement of Standing on Admission.

Your offer of admission is good for one term only. Read the pink “Statement of Standing on Admission” form carefully. If it says “Fall 2026,” you must start in September 2026.

It takes some time to get used to Canada, find a place to live, and so on. It is often better to delay until the following academic year than to arrive late. We strongly discourage students from missing any classes at the beginning of the term due to delays in arriving in Ottawa.

Carleton’s M.A. Internship Placement offers students paid employment opportunities. Most of these are at government agencies such as Human Resources Skills Development Canada, Industry Canada, Health Canada, the Competition Bureau, and Environment Canada.

Students are invited to find their own internship positions. A good place to start is by checking the Web sites of the many government agencies located in Ottawa.

During their work term, students are required to register in ECON 5902 (Internship Placement), which is additional to the program requirements described above. While taking ECON 5902, students are registered to be part-time, and may register in one additional academic 5000-level course during an internship.

Master’s students are not required to write a thesis. However, if you wish to write a thesis, you must first obtain permission from the M.A. Supervisor who will discuss the viability of your research proposal as well as potential thesis supervisors.

If you receive permission to write a thesis, your M.A. requirements will typically be 5 courses plus a thesis, instead of 8 courses.

You need to send an e-mail to the Graduate Administrator requesting a change of status. Please read Section 7.10 of the Graduate Calendar, which describes the circumstances whereby a change of status is allowed.

The first thing to do is start early. Since the federal government begins most of its recruiting initiatives in the fall, master’s students need to start thinking about applying for jobs almost as soon as they begin their program.

Useful sites for job search include jobs.gc.ca and Carleton’s Career Startup site.

Make sure that the Graduate Administrator has your current e-mail address and check your e-mail regularly. Whenever we hear of any job opportunities, we circulate them to the students.

First of all, realize that health problems due to stress are not at all uncommon. Talk to other students, find time to eat properly and exercise, and if you need help contact Health and Counselling Services.

If you miss a mid-term exam or an assignment for health reasons, contact your instructor. If you miss a final exam for health reasons, contact the instructor and the Graduate Administrator in order to request a deferred exam.

If your health problems are interfering with your studies, it is vitally important to get proper documentation. Any health-related problem must be supported by a proper medical certificate.

Teaching assistantships (T.A.s) are awarded on the basis of academic merit. There is no need to ask to be considered for a T.A. once you are at Carleton, as all eligible students are considered prior to admission.

Make sure you read notices from the M.A. Supervisor and the Graduate Administrator. If we learn of any job opportunities, we always circulate them to our graduate students. Talk to your peers, as other students in the program may have useful connections. Also, use the resources available on campus, particularly Career Services and the International Student Services Office (ISSO).

(Note also that some graduate-student opportunities or links thereto are posted under “Graduate Studies / Employment and Award Opportunities” on this Web site. Of particular interest to Ph.D. candidates nearing completion of their theses are the job postings under “Community / Employment Opportunities”.)

If you have a financial emergency, you can apply for an emergency bursary of up to $1,000. An application form can be obtained from Graduate Studies (this form is not available online).

For an MA student to take elective courses at the University of Ottawa, please fill in a copy of the Graduate Exchange Form available from the Graduate Administrator. This form needs to be signed by both the Department and Graduate Studies at both Carleton and the University of Ottawa.

Courses at universities outside Ottawa can be taken with special permission of the M.A. Supervisor.

In order to fulfill Carleton University residency requirements, you must take at least 60 percent of your courses (5 out of 8) at Carleton.

MA students must achieve a minimum grade of of B- in ECON 5020 (Microeconomic Theory), ECON 5021 (Macroeconomic Theory), ECON 5027 (Econometrics I), and ECON 5029 (Methods of Economic Research). If you receive a grade below B-, you must repeat the course. A maximum of two C+ grades in other courses can be counted towards your degree with the permission of the M.A. Supervisor and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.

If your overall average falls below 7.0 (B-) after two terms of full-time study, you may be required to withdraw from the program.