Université de Saint-Boniface: Applying to Manitoba's Only French Language University

Manitoba's only French-language university

Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) sits in the Saint-Boniface neighbourhood of Winnipeg and is the only French-language university in Manitoba. It offers university and college-level programs, and a number of its degree programs are recognized in affiliation with the University of Manitoba, which matters if you plan to transfer credits or continue into graduate study elsewhere in the province.

Academic requirements

USB expects secondary education recognized as equivalent to a Manitoba high school diploma. If you finished high school in another province, your transcripts get assessed against that standard as part of your application, the same way any Manitoba post-secondary institution would evaluate an out-of-province diploma.

French language requirements

Because French is the language of instruction, USB sets its French requirement differently depending on where you finished secondary school. According to USB's own admission requirements page , Canadian secondary graduates satisfy the French requirement by having passed Français 40S, or the equivalent course from another Canadian province or territory. A standardized French test requirement applies specifically to international applicants without Canadian secondary schooling.

USB may assess your French level before placing you into your first French course. Confirm the current process directly with USB before you apply, since program-specific language expectations can sit above the general university minimum.

What USB offers beyond the classroom

The Language School also teaches Spanish and produces instructional material for teaching French as a first or additional language, which is relevant if education or language teaching is part of your plan. Continuing education and French-language courses through the school often run on rolling or multiple intakes rather than a single fixed start date, unlike the standard fall and winter terms for degree programs.

Applying as a student moving to Winnipeg

• Confirm your high school transcripts meet the Manitoba-equivalent standard before you apply.

• If you completed secondary school in Canada, confirm you have passed Français 40S or your province's equivalent course.

• If you are applying as an international student without Canadian secondary schooling, gather your standardized French test results to support your file.

• If your French is below the expected level, ask USB about its preparatory French program rather than assuming you are ineligible to apply.

• Factor in Winnipeg's cost of living and housing search timeline separately from the academic application, since USB does not run its own guaranteed residence system the way some larger universities do.

Why the Saint-Boniface neighbourhood matters

Saint-Boniface is Winnipeg's historic French quarter, with its own francophone institutions, churches and community organizations built up over more than a century, not just a university campus dropped into an anglophone city. That means you can live and study largely in French day to day, from your classes to grocery shopping to community events, while still having full access to English-language Winnipeg a short trip away. If you grew up in a French immersion or francophone program elsewhere in Canada and want to keep using French daily without moving to Quebec, that combination is a real part of USB's appeal.

Coming from outside Manitoba

Students moving to Winnipeg for USB face the same practical questions as any interprovincial move: securing housing before the semester starts, registering a provincial health card once you arrive, and budgeting for a cost of living that differs from your home province. None of these are unique to USB, but plan for them alongside the academic application rather than leaving them until after you are accepted.

How USB compares to studying French in Quebec

Manitoba is not a bilingual province the way New Brunswick is, so USB functions as a francophone institution inside a mostly English-speaking province rather than one of many French options the way Quebec universities are. That makes USB a smaller, more concentrated francophone environment than most Quebec universities, closer in feel to studying at a French-language institution embedded in an anglophone region. If you want to stay in French while remaining west of Ontario, USB is close to the only option at the university level.

Before you apply, prepare

• Your official high school transcripts, translated if not already in French or English.

• Your Français 40S result (or your province's equivalent course) if you completed secondary school in Canada, or a standardized French test result if you did not.

• A shortlist of your intended program, since program-specific requirements can sit above the general university minimum.

• A note to confirm with USB directly how and when your French level gets assessed for your first French course.

Financial aid

Manitoba students financing a move to USB should check Manitoba Student Aid for provincial grant and loan eligibility rules, since aid amounts and thresholds are set annually and differ from other provinces.