Algonquin College offers PGCert in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, a postgraduate certificate in Biomedical & Laboratory Sciences programme in Ottawa, Canada. The programme runs for 2 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition is CAD 1,676 per semester for local students.
This graduate certificate develops the knowledge and technical skill needed to produce diagnostic ultrasound images across a broad and fast-moving field, where the quality of a scan depends directly on the skill of the person performing it. Students build the critical thinking and composure needed to work in often stressful clinical situations, learning through theory, simulation, lab practice and extensive clinical placements.
Two substantial clinical placements build technical, professional, interpersonal and patient-management skills that prepare graduates to function within a wider healthcare team. On passing national certification, graduates earn recognition as a generalist sonographer and register with the relevant provincial regulatory college to practise in Ontario. Career paths include diagnostic medical sonographer, sonography educator, application specialist, medical technical sales, and research or supervisory roles in related fields.
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 1618X01FWO. All applicants must satisfy both College Eligibility and Program Eligibility.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY (post-credential entry, no secondary-school route): a diploma, advanced diploma, graduate certificate or degree in a medical or health-related field that includes at least two courses in human or gross anatomy and human physiology, one course in human pathology, and three further human health-related courses, every one of them passed at 70% (B minus) or better. Among the degrees Algonquin gives as examples are Kinesiology at BSc or BA level, a BSc in Nursing, and bachelor's degrees in Medical Radiation Sciences or Applied Health Sciences, along with an MSc in occupational therapy or physiotherapy. Its diploma and advanced-diploma examples include Medical Radiation Technology; Respiratory Therapy; Registered Practical Nursing; Cardiovascular Technology; Registered Massage Therapy; and the Occupational Therapy Assistant and Physiotherapy Assistant credentials. The lists are described as examples, not as a closed set.
Every applicant must also sit the Algonquin College Health Program Admissions Test (AC-HPAT) at the Test Centre and pay an exam fee. The result is used both to set minimum eligibility and to rank applicants, and it may be written only once per academic cycle.
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.
AFTER ACCEPTANCE: obtaining the Police Records Check for Service with the Vulnerable Sector from your local police service, by the department's deadline and at your own cost, is your responsibility and can take a long time. A clear check is needed annually for lab work, and its contents may have to be disclosed to placement agencies. Clinical placement is required to graduate; to take part you must complete the ParaMed requirements and supply the clear vulnerable-sector check, current CPR at Basic Rescuer Level C together with Standard First Aid, evidence of N95-equivalent mask fit testing, a health assessment form and immunisation certificate covering hepatitis B and an annual TB test (with a chest X-ray if that test is positive), annual influenza immunisation where an affiliate requires it, all ParaMed pre-placement health requirements a month before placement begins, WHMIS and Ontario health and safety awareness training, and proof of de-escalation training.
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). 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. Algonquin flags this program as competitive, which makes the 1 February date matter: qualified applicants who applied by then are rank-ordered on their screening results and offers go down that list, and everyone after it is admitted only while space remains or is waitlisted by date of application. This program also requires the Algonquin College Health Program Admissions Test (AC-HPAT); Algonquin asks for the assessment to be completed by 12 February to be included in the ranking.
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. No Fall 2026 closing date is published for this program on that sheet, so check the program's international availability before applying. Note that this program's own availability table carries a single availability column rather than a separate international one, and the program is not listed on Algonquin's page of programs available to international students; confirm with the International Education Centre before applying from outside Canada.
