BA/BS in Public Health is a bachelor's degree in Public Health programme taught at University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada. The programme runs for 4 years, delivered on campus. Tuition for international students is CAD 25,296 per semester (CAD 3,125 per semester for local students).
Also offered as: Master's Degree
At a glance
Degree:Bachelor's Degree
Field:Public Health
Duration: 4 years
Delivery: On Campus
Local tuition: CAD 3,125 / semester
International tuition: CAD 25,296 / semester
Last checked September 2026 · Source: uwaterloo.ca ·
Program details
Overview
The Public Health program at the University of Waterloo leads to a Bachelor of Public Health (Honours) and is offered through the Faculty of Health. It examines the social, cultural, political, biological, and geographic forces that shape health at the community and population level, focusing on disease prevention, health system design, and health inequalities rather than the treatment of individual patients. The degree is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health. Students can complete the program over four years as a regular study stream or five years with co-op, the latter alternating study and paid work terms from second year. Curricular options include minors in Addictions, Mental Health and Policy or Gerontology, an option in Aging Studies or Health Informatics, and a Health Research specialization, in addition to electives from across the university. Most instruction is delivered in person. The program suits students interested in population-level approaches to health rather than clinical practice, and it is not intended as preparation for professions such as medicine or nursing. Graduates are positioned for roles in community health organizations, public health departments, health policy analysis, consulting, and nonprofit health work, drawing on the program's population-health and health-systems focus.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Ontario applicants apply directly to Public Health through OUAC, presenting six Grade 12 U/M courses including any Grade 12 U English (minimum 75%) and any Grade 12 U Mathematics (minimum 70%). Admission is competitive: recent admission averages sit in the low 80s for the regular program and the mid 80s for co-op. Applicants studying outside Ontario follow the University's general admission requirements for Public Health, 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
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.
