Social Work Indigenous Specialization: Master's Degree (MSW) is a master's degree in Indigenous Focus programme offered by University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada. The programme is delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 2,857 per semester (CAD 2,265 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Master's Degree
Field:Indigenous Focus
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 2,265 / semester
International tuition: CAD 2,857 / semester
Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
This specialization prepares Bachelor of Social Work graduates to practise within Indigenous communities and organizations, requiring 6,000 hours of relevant human-services experience for non-Indigenous applicants or 3,000 hours for Indigenous applicants, plus a reference from an Indigenous community-based contact. Delivery blends an initial on-campus session with distance education across a two-to-five-year timeline, and students finish with either a thesis or a 450-hour advanced practicum grounded in decolonizing and anti-oppressive social work practice. Applicants submit an updated CV, a statement of intent, an experience summary form, and the names of three academic or professional references, one of which must come from an Indigenous community-based contact, plus post-secondary transcripts. September-entry applications are due December 1, mirroring the application structure of the Foundation and Advanced MSW streams.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: The School of Social Work's Indigenous Specialization MSW requires a Bachelor of Social Work plus a minimum of 6,000 hours of human services experience in an Indigenous social-services setting for non-Indigenous applicants, or 3,000 hours for Indigenous applicants, together with an updated CV, a statement of intent, an experience summary, transcripts and three references, one of which must be from an Indigenous community-based source. The program page does not restate the Faculty of Graduate Studies' general 'B'-average benchmark separately from the BSW requirement. English proficiency follows UVic's institution-wide scale: IELTS Academic overall 6.5 with no band under 6.0, or TOEFL iBT overall 4.5 with no section under 4.0 for tests taken after 21 January 2026 (90 overall/20 per section on tests taken before that date); PTE Academic, CAEL, Cambridge C1 Advanced/C2 Proficiency and the Michigan English Test are also accepted, individual departments may set higher minimums, and scores cannot be more than two years old.
Application Details
Application Deadline:This stream admits every second year: its most recent intake was September 2026, so the next intake is September 2028, with applications opening early October 2027. UVic has not published an application deadline for the 2028 intake; the page confirms only the opening month.
