At University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada, BA/BS in Health Sciences is offered as a bachelor's degree in Health Sciences programme. The programme runs for 4 years. Tuition for international students is CAD 25,296 per semester (CAD 3,125 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Health Sciences
Duration: 4 years
Local tuition: CAD 3,125 / semester
International tuition: CAD 25,296 / semester
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
The Health Sciences program at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Science and is offered through the Faculty of Health. It studies human health by connecting biological processes, such as physiology and biochemistry, with population-level factors including epidemiology and health systems policy. Most required coursework is delivered in person rather than online. The degree runs as a four-year regular program or a five-year co-op program, with co-op students alternating four-month study and work terms from second year and gaining paid experience in settings such as clinical research, genetic counselling support, and health promotion. Students can add depth through minors such as Addictions, Mental Health and Policy or Gerontology, options in Aging Studies or Health Informatics, and specializations including Health Research or a Pre-Clinical focus, alongside minors available across the university. The program suits students weighing a path toward medicine or another health profession while keeping other options open. It supports graduate routes into medical school and other clinical training, as well as careers in clinical research, epidemiology, occupational health, health policy analysis, and public health, drawing on the combination of biological science and health-systems coursework built into the curriculum.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Ontario applicants apply directly to Health Sciences through OUAC, presenting six Grade 12 U/M courses including any Grade 12 U English (minimum 70%), any Grade 12 U Mathematics (minimum 70%), Biology (minimum 70%), and Chemistry (minimum 70%). Admission is competitive: recent admission averages sit in the mid 80s for the regular program and the high 80s for co-op; applicants are advised to apply to both streams, since admission to co-op does not guarantee consideration for regular. Applicants studying outside Ontario follow the University's general admission requirements for Health Sciences, presenting an equivalent senior secondary qualification with the same prerequisite subjects. Applicants whose four most recent years of full-time education were not completed in Canada or at English-language schools must submit an accepted English test: IELTS 6.5 overall (6.5 writing and speaking, 6.0 reading and listening), TOEFL iBT 90 overall with 25 in writing and speaking for tests completed before 21 January 2026 (4.5 overall with 5 in writing and speaking for tests on or after that date), PTE Academic 63 (65 writing and speaking), Duolingo 120 (125 Literacy and Production), or Cambridge C1/C2 180 (176 per skill).
Application Details
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.
