HD in Animation at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada is a higher diploma in Film & Animation programme. The programme runs for 3 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 9,193 per semester (CAD 2,818 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Higher Diploma
Field:Film & Animation
Duration: 3 years
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 2,818 / semester
International tuition: CAD 9,193 / semester
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Overview Bring your drawing skills to life through acting and storytelling. The three-year Animation Ontario College Advanced Diploma program provides you with the skills needed to meet the standards of the demanding international animation industry. As a student attending one of the best animation programs in Canada (as ranked by Animation Career Review, 2019), you learn industry-standard technologies, drawing and animation skills. This program focuses on acting and body mechanics and where you learn traditional, 3D, tradigital (using Toon Boom's Harmony) and video game animation techniques. Our faculty members are industry professionals who have worked for studios such as: Disney Sony Image Works Mercury Filmworks Jam Filled Entertainment Atomic Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation Corus Pip Kratts Ubisoft Gain the ability to communicate your ideas through drawing, and to present them visually. Learn to see images in motion -a skill necessary for an animator, and ensure your animated creations are realistic and meet industry standards. Focus is on layout, location and character design, gesture drawing and anatomy studies of the NUDE model, all culminating in performance-based character animation. By the end of the program, you have a portfolio and demo reel that showcases your work. This highlights your creativity, skills and proficiency with relevant animation software and technologies, demonstrating that you are ready to enter the field. Graduates of this program may find work as a(n): animator at a professional animation or game studio layout artist location or character designer 3D animator, rigger or modeler background artist tradigital rigger storyboard artist Other employment opportunities might include working on feature films, animated TV series or commercials, or creating short independent films for festivals. The Algonquin College animation program is recognized as a Toon Boom Centre of Excellence.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Algonquin publishes these requirements for the Sept 2027 - Aug 2028 admissions year on this program's own page; the requirements for Sept 2026 - Aug 2027 are shown separately there and can differ. Program code 1288X01FWO. All applicants must satisfy both College Eligibility and Program Eligibility.
COLLEGE ELIGIBILITY: an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or its equivalent, or mature-student standing - 19 or older, and without a high-school diploma, by the time the program begins. Mature entry may be settled by academic achievement testing, for which a fee is charged.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY: Grade 12 English (ENG4C or equivalent), plus a portfolio.
PORTFOLIO: 10 to 15 samples showing artistic ability, which must include formal life drawing, perspective drawing, and fantasy or cartoon drawing. Work submitted for assessment must be 8.5 by 11 inches. Details of an additional home drawing test are sent once your application arrives. Submission instructions are on Algonquin's Additional Admission Requirements page, and portfolio questions go to [email protected].
Applicants presenting transcripts from outside Canada must document the subjects above and may be asked for evidence of language proficiency; a domestic applicant holding international transcripts must have them assessed by the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS) or World Education Services (WES).
ENGLISH: Academic IELTS 6.5 overall with nothing under 6.0 in any band; or TOEFL iBT 88 overall with 22 in each of reading, listening, speaking and writing where the test was sat before 21 January 2026, or 4.5 overall with 4.5 in each section where it was sat after that date; or a Duolingo English Test score of 120 overall with 120 in Literacy and nothing under 105.
If qualified applicants outnumber the seats, Algonquin ranks on the portfolio score.
Application Details
Start Date:Intake terms Algonquin lists for this program, read from its own availability table on 6 September 2026: Fall 2026 (AC Day 1 orientation 8 September 2026; Fall term classes start 9 September 2026); Winter 2027 (most classes start 11 January 2027). Term start dates come from the Registrar's Important Dates page, which also gives 11 January 2027 for the Winter 2027 term and 10 May 2027 for the Spring 2027 term. Availability changes as seats fill and an intake already under way may be closed, so check the program page before applying. Algonquin's academic year runs September to August.
Application Deadline:DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents). Algonquin publishes no deadline unique to this program; the dates below are the college-wide Ontario colleges cycle and apply to every full-time day program. Applications go through ontariocolleges.ca, where 1 February is the equal consideration date each cycle: apply by then and your application is assessed alongside every other one received by that date, while applications arriving later are handled first-come, first-served for as long as places remain. For entry in Fall 2027 the ontariocolleges.ca application opened on 26 September 2026, colleges may begin issuing offers on 1 November 2026, the equal consideration date is 1 February 2027 and an offer must be accepted by 1 May 2027. The equal consideration date that governed the Fall 2026, Winter 2027 and Spring 2027 intakes was 1 February 2026 and has already passed, so those three starts are now first-come, first-served while seats last.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS. Apply directly to Algonquin on the International Application Form in its International Application Portal (AC360) rather than through ontariocolleges.ca, with a CAD 135 application fee. There is no single fixed international deadline: Algonquin asks you to confirm the program is open before applying, warns that a program's status can change to waitlisted or closed before an admissions officer reviews the file, and publishes a closing-date sheet for each intake. For the Fall 2026 intake that sheet gives this program's own dates: 16 September 2026 is the last day to apply on the International Application Portal and receive an acceptance, and 21 September 2026 is the last day to register.
