Université de Moncton: Campuses, Programs and Applying From Outside New Brunswick

Three campuses, one university

Université de Moncton is a French-language university with three campuses spread across New Brunswick: the main Moncton campus, the Edmundston campus in the northwest, and the Shippagan campus on the Acadian Peninsula. It was created in 1963 out of the recommendation of a royal commission on higher education in the province, and it has grown into the largest French-language university outside Quebec. You can see the current campus structure on the university's own umoncton.ca site.

The three campuses are not simply smaller copies of each other. Each has its own specialties, and understanding which campus teaches what matters before you pick a program.

What each campus offers

Across the eight faculties, Université de Moncton covers administration, arts, education, engineering, forestry, law, nursing, nutrition, psychology, science and social work. For a program list by campus, check the university's programs pages .

Applying from outside New Brunswick

Université de Moncton is not part of the OUAC system used by Ontario universities. You apply directly through the university's own online portal, which the school says takes about 20 minutes to complete. You will need a valid email address, your chosen campus, the study cycle you are applying to (undergraduate, graduate, or a specific professional program), and your intended program.

The admission conditions page lets you select your province or region of origin, since requirements differ depending on where you finished secondary school. Run through that selector for your own province before you apply, since grade thresholds and required courses are not identical across Canada.

French language expectations

Instruction across all three campuses is in French. If your secondary schooling was not conducted in French, expect the university to ask for proof of French proficiency as part of your file, on top of the standard academic requirements for your province of origin. If you came through a French immersion program or a francophone school system elsewhere in Canada, gather your transcripts and any language certification you already hold before you start the application, since it speeds up file review.

Tuition and costs

New Brunswick sets separate tuition rates for in-province residents compared with students from other Canadian provinces, and both differ again from the rate charged to international students. Rates change from year to year, so check the university's current costs page directly rather than relying on a number you saw elsewhere before you budget for a move to Moncton, Edmundston or Shippagan.

What life looks like at the smaller campuses

Edmundston is not a standalone campus in the usual sense. It sits inside Édupôle Edmundston, a hub that combines Université de Moncton's Edmundston campus with a community college (Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick), a secondary school, and employment services in one location. That gives you a smaller cohort than Moncton but access to a shared hub serving several thousand students, secondary through post-secondary, rather than an isolated satellite site.

Shippagan sits directly on the Acadian Peninsula coastline. Beyond its Sustainable Development and Coastal Zone and Information Management programs, it is also where Nursing students spend their first year before the program moves them to Bathurst for the remaining three years. If you are applying to Nursing, plan for two moves rather than one: Shippagan first, then Bathurst, before you finish.

Deciding between the campuses

If your program is only offered at one location (Forestry at Edmundston, or Coastal Zone and Information Management at Shippagan) the choice is made for you. For programs that start at a smaller campus and finish in Moncton, weigh the smaller class sizes and lower cost of living in Edmundston or Shippagan in your first year against the wider services and bigger student population once you transfer to the main campus.

Comparing Moncton to studying in French in Quebec

If your main reason for considering Université de Moncton is studying in French, you are likely also weighing a Quebec university. The difference is scale and setting: Quebec gives you a much bigger French-language system with more universities to choose from, while Moncton gives you Atlantic Canada's Acadian community, a bilingual province (New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province), and a direct, non-CEGEP path into a bachelor's degree straight from a standard Canadian high school diploma. If you want to stay closer to Atlantic Canada, or you did not go through the CEGEP system, Moncton avoids the extra step Quebec's system requires of out-of-province students.

Practical steps before you move

• Confirm which campus your specific program starts on, since the same degree name can begin in a different city depending on the discipline.

• Line up housing early if you are moving from another province, since Moncton, Edmundston and Shippagan are all smaller rental markets than a city like Toronto or Vancouver and availability tightens close to September.

• Budget for a possible mid-program move if your program transfers you between campuses partway through, on top of your initial relocation.

• Talk to the admissions office about how your specific home province's high school courses map onto Université de Moncton's entry requirements, since this is handled province by province rather than through one national standard.