Economics: Master of Arts (MA) - UBCV at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada is a master's degree in Arts, Design & Architecture programme. The programme runs for 12 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 32,394 per year (CAD 5,739 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Master's Degree
Field:Arts, Design & Architecture
Duration: 12 months
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 5,739 / year
International tuition: CAD 32,394 / year
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The MA in Economics at the Vancouver School of Economics is a twelve-month, coursework-centred degree giving intensive training in both theoretical and applied economics. Field offerings span development economics, economic history, applied and theoretical econometrics, the economics of inequality and gender, environmental economics, industrial organisation, international trade and finance, labour economics, macroeconomics, political economy and public economics. A thesis is optional; supervision arrangements are settled later in the year rather than at application, once students who want to write one have finished their coursework. The school is among the strongest economics departments in the world by research output and the leading one in Canada, which shapes both the teaching and the seminar culture students encounter. Graduates go into policy roles at institutions such as the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance and Statistics Canada, into private sector analytics, or on to doctoral programs at leading international universities.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:76.00 / %
Admission Requirements: The programme defers to UBC's graduate-wide academic minimum: the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies requires an overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC), and the department may set higher standards for this competitive programme. Applicants from outside Canada whose prior instruction was not in English must meet UBC's graduate English requirement: IELTS Academic overall 6.5 with no band below 6.0, TOEFL iBT overall 4.5 (six-point scale, tests from 21 January 2026; equivalent to overall 93 with no section below 22 on the retired 120-point scale), or Duolingo English Test overall 125 with no component below 115, tested within the last 24 months. The programme's own page does not itemise further subject prerequisites beyond the Faculty-wide standard.
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Domestic and international undergraduate applicants both apply through EducationPlannerBC for Winter Session 2027/28 (September 2027 entry) and Summer 2027: applications open in early October 2026 and the equal-consideration deadline is 15 January 2027, 11:59 p.m. PST, the same date for both groups; a few programs keep reviewing late applications on a space-available basis afterwards. Earlier dates apply only to entrance-award consideration -- 15 November 2026 for the International Scholars Program and 1 December 2026 for Presidential/Centennial/Beyond Tomorrow scholars. Several limited-entry programmes -- Law, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing (advanced entry), Occupational/Physical Therapy, Social Work and Teacher Education -- set their own earlier deadlines from October 2026 through February 2027. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
