University of Waterloo offers BA/BS in Biomedical Engineering, a bachelor's degree in Bio & Biomedical Engineering programme in Waterloo, Canada. The programme runs for 5 years, delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 34,942 per semester (CAD 7,124 per semester for local students).
Also offered as: Master's Degree, Doctorate
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Bio & Biomedical Engineering
Duration: 5 years
Delivery: On Campus
Local tuition: CAD 7,124 / semester
International tuition: CAD 34,942 / semester
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Biomedical Engineering at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) and is offered only as a co-op program at the undergraduate level, with work terms beginning in the spring after first year. The curriculum combines engineering, health, and life science, covering biomechanics, bioinstrumentation, medical imaging, systems physiology, biomaterials, and biomedical device design, alongside first-year chemistry, physics, calculus, linear algebra, programming, and user-centred design, and includes a fourth-year capstone design project with hands-on modelling and prototyping work. Students can specialize in Biomaterials and Tissues; Biomechanical and Rehabilitation Engineering; Biomedical Artificial Intelligence; Biomedical Imaging Technologies; Biomedical Devices; or Neural Engineering. Co-op terms alternate with study across the degree, delivered in person on the Waterloo campus. The program suits students interested in careers spanning health, design, robotics, and research, such as medical device engineering, surgical robotics, clinical application analysis, or biotechnology research and development.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Direct entry from Ontario high school for Biomedical Engineering. Required: six Grade 12 U/M courses including Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, Chemistry, Physics and English (ENG4U), each with a minimum final grade of 70%. Admission is competitive: the Faculty of Engineering selects individually, with an admission average trend of the high 80s to low 90s. All Engineering applicants, admitted individually against these prerequisites, must also complete the Admission Information Form (AIF) and an online interview, per the University of Waterloo's own admission requirements. International and non-Ontario applicants follow the equivalent OUAC route with the program's prerequisite subjects. Applicants whose secondary education was not in Canada or in English follow the same OUAC route and must meet Waterloo's institution-wide English proficiency requirement: IELTS Academic 6.5 overall (6.0 minimum band, 6.5 in writing and speaking), TOEFL iBT 4.5 overall with 5 in writing and speaking for tests from 21 January 2026 onward (90 overall with 25 in writing and speaking for earlier tests), PTE Academic 63 (65 in writing and speaking), or Duolingo 120 (125 in Literacy and Production).
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Waterloo admits first-year students for September entry only, through the OUAC, with identical deadlines for domestic and international applicants. For Fall 2027, most programmes must be applied to by 1 February 2027 with documents due 15 February 2027; Engineering programmes (excluding Architecture) close earlier, on 15 January 2027, with documents due 1 February 2027, and require an online interview. Waterloo states a deadline may be extended if a programme is not yet full, but publishes no separate rolling-admission date and no explicit application-opening date. Pharmacy is a named exception with its own earlier deadline; Social Work and the Conditional Admission to Pharmacy stream are directed to programme-specific timelines outside this page. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
