Graduate Studies
Chemical Engineering

This document is originally written by Dr. K M Tanvir Ahmmed, PhD in Chemical Engineering (McGill University).

Year of Publication: 2013

©PBSCU Any unauthorized use of this article, including copying or editing is prohibited. If you want to use the article, you need to take permission from us: pbscuadm@gmail.com or from the author and you must mention the author's name and the group's name in all cases.

Canadian University Selection for Chemical Engineers

This article will help you to choose the right university for getting admission in PhD or masters in chemical engineering in Canadian universities. Updated 2015.

1. University Rankings:

2017 Ranking: https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2017/engineering-chemical

About twenty Canadian universities offer chemical engineering graduate degrees. I placed universities in 3 tiers, universities in a same tier practically have same admission requirements for graduate studies. Canadian university ranking for Chemical Engineering according to QS subject ranking 2015 is given below:

Tier 1 (category A):

University of Toronto (QS Rank:32)

McGill University (QS Rank:42)

Tier 1 (category B):

University of Alberta (QS Rank:51-100)

University of British Columbia (QS Rank:51-100)

Tier 2

McMaster University (QS Rank:101-150)

University of Western Ontario (QS Rank:101-150)

Universite de Montreal (QS Rank:101-150)

University of Waterloo (QS Rank:101-150)

University of Calgary (QS Rank:101-150)

Laval University (QS Rank:151-200)

Queen's University (QS Rank:151-200)

Tier 3

University of Ottawa (Not in QS Chemical Rank) (QS Country Rank: 11)

Dalhousie University (Not in QS Chemical Rank) (QS Country Rank: 13)

Université de Sherbrooke (Not in QS Chemical Rank) (QS Country Rank: 18)

University of Saskatchewan (Not in QS Chemical Rank) (QS Country Rank: 20)

Memorial University of Newfoundland [Oil and Gas Engineering] (Not in QS Chemical Rank) (QS Country Rank: 24)

University of Regina [Process systems engineering] (Not in QS Chemical Rank)

2. Requirements:

From my experiences the requirements for admission in PhD program are given below (these are not the requirements by the university itself)

Requirements for Tier 1 (category A) Universities:

• Very High CGPA (>3.75)

• High TOEFL/IELTS score (100/7.5)

• GRE (They don't ask for it, but it's better for Bangladeshi students to provide the GRE score)

• Paper ( at least one journal paper)

• Experiences (It's good if you have teaching or job experiences)

• You have to have a MSc degree to get admission into PhD

Requirements for Tier 1 (category B) Universities:

• High CGPA (>3.60)

• High TOEFL/IELTS score (90/7)

• GRE (No need, if you have then plus point)

• Paper ( It's good to have at least one conference paper)

• Experiences (No need, if you have any then plus point)
  
  

Requirements for Tier 2 Universities:

• Good CGPA (>3.50), But students with CGPA lower than 3.5 can secure admission in these universities.

• Good TOEFL/IELTS score (90/7)

• GRE (No need)

• Paper (If you have one paper your chance of getting funding will increase manifold)

• Experiences (No need)

Requirements for Tier 3 Universities:

• Good CGPA (>3.3), But students with CGPA lower than 3.3 can secure admission in these universities.

• Good TOEFL/IELTS score (80/6.5); Dalhousie may require higher TOEFL/IELTS score

• GRE (No need)

• Paper (No need)

• Experiences (No need)

NB. For University de Montreal, Laval University & Université de Sherbrooke french language proficiency is needed.

You have to manage a supervisor to get admission in most of the Canadian Universities.

It is better to contact potential supervisors before applying. If you can manage your supervisor then the above mentioned requirements may vary for you. I personally know people studying or graduated from most of the above universities. So feel free to ask any questions. I can redirect your questions to those altruists.