OUAC 105 for Students Transferring Back to Ontario After Starting a Degree Abroad
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Jun 30, 2026 • Canadian Universities & Colleges
The OUAC 105 application is Ontario's route for anyone who is not a current full-time Ontario high school student, which includes you if you started a degree abroad and want to transfer into an Ontario university.
📩 Apply through the OUAC 105 portal, separate from the 101 form current Ontario high school students use.
🎓 Each university you apply to still runs its own transfer credit assessment on top of your OUAC application.
Send transcripts and course outlines from your foreign institution as soon as you start the application.
Confirm each university's own deadline, since many review transfer applications on a rolling basis rather than one fixed date.
Why you use 105 instead of 101
Ontario's application system splits by applicant type. The 101 application is for students currently enrolled full time in an Ontario high school. The 105 application covers everyone else: students from other provinces, students applying from outside Canada, and anyone, like you, who already started postsecondary study elsewhere and wants to apply into an Ontario university. You submit the 105 application through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre rather than through your old high school's guidance counsellor system.
What the 105 application does
OUAC 105 collects your program choices and personal information and forwards them to the Ontario universities you select. It does not, by itself, evaluate your foreign transfer credit. Each university's own admissions or transfer credit office does that work separately once your application and transcripts arrive. Treat the OUAC form as the intake step, not the full application. You still deal with each university directly for anything credit-related.
Documents to prepare
Official transcripts from every postsecondary institution you attended, sent directly from those institutions where the university requires it.
Course outlines or syllabi for any courses you want considered for transfer credit.
Your final high school transcript, since some programs still weigh your original admission average alongside your postsecondary record.
Proof of English or French proficiency if your foreign institution taught in another language.
Applying step by step
Create your account on the OUAC 105 portal and select every Ontario university and program you want to apply to.
Pay the application fee for your first choice, then any additional per-program fee for further choices.
Arrange for official transcripts to be sent from every institution you attended, including your foreign school.
Follow up directly with each university's admissions office to confirm they received your transcripts and course outlines for transfer credit review.
Track your offer and transfer credit decision through each university's own applicant portal, separate from OUAC.
Deadlines and timing
Ontario universities set their own deadlines for 105 applicants rather than sharing one fixed date across the system. Some review transfer applications on a rolling basis, admitting students as space opens in a program, while others hold a firm cutoff for a September or January start. Check the transfer or non-current-student deadline on each specific university's admissions page rather than assuming it matches the deadline for current Ontario high school applicants, since the two dates often differ.
Where transfer credit gets decided
Once a university offers you admission through your 105 application, its own registrar or faculty transfer credit office reviews your foreign course outlines and issues a separate transfer credit assessment. This assessment tells you which of your foreign courses count toward your Ontario degree and how many credits you still need to complete in residence. Ask for this assessment in writing before you commit to an offer, since verbal estimates from an admissions counsellor are not always what the registrar's office confirms later.
If your foreign average is borderline
Universities weighing a 105 application from a student who struggled academically abroad often look past the raw average and ask why. A short explanation submitted with your application, addressing what changed and how you plan to approach your studies differently, gives the admissions committee context a transcript alone does not provide. Some programs offer a conditional or probationary admission route for borderline files. Ask the admissions office directly whether that option exists for your program.
If your foreign program included a co-op or internship term
A completed co-op or internship abroad does not usually transfer as academic credit on its own, since Canadian co-op programs typically require the term to be arranged and supervised through the Canadian institution itself. Ask the receiving university's co-op office directly whether a foreign work term counts toward their co-op designation requirements, since this varies by program and is not guaranteed.
Applying to college instead of university
If you are weighing an Ontario college alongside a university, note that colleges use a separate application system, ontariocolleges.ca , not OUAC 105. The two systems do not share applications, so decide which type of institution fits your plan before you pick which portal to use.
Fees to expect
OUAC 105 charges a fee for your first program choice, then an additional fee for each further choice beyond that. Fee amounts change from year to year, so confirm the current fee schedule on the OUAC 105 portal directly before you start your application rather than relying on a number from a previous cycle.
Applying while you are still abroad
If you submit your 105 application before you finish your term abroad, ask your foreign institution whether it offers electronic transcript delivery, since mailed paper transcripts from overseas take longer to arrive and delay your file. Set up a Canadian mailing address or a reliable way to receive follow-up requests from Ontario universities, since admissions and transfer credit offices often ask for additional documents partway through the review.