School of Planning

Faculty of Architecture and Planning

Application Requirements

The following instruction applies to the MPlan admission application for 2024-2025 school year (enrolment for Fall term). Applications will open in November 2023, and the admission review will start on January 15, 2024.

Deadline for early admission consideration for all applicants. January 15 by 11:59 p.m. AST. Decision will be made by January 31.
Deadline for International student admission. March 1 by 11:59 p.m. AST. Decision will be made by March 15.
Deadline for domestic student admission. April 15 by 11:59 p.m. AST. Decision will be made by April 30.

Your application package should include the following:

1

Online graduate application form 
  • You will complete the online form and pay the application fee

2

A minimum of two letters of reference

 

You can submit your references as follows (Dalhousie's online reference system recognizes only university email addresses):

  • If your reference is from an academic institution that Dalhousie's online system does not recognize, have the referee submit a free-form letter with original signature by email to plangrad@dal.ca.

  • If your reference is from an academic institution that Dalhousie's online system recognizes, use the online reference system. 

  • If your reference is from professional experience, the referee should submit a free-form letter with original signature as a PDF by email to plangrad@dal.ca. The referee must use an institutional email address (not Hotmail, gmail, etc.).

3

 One original transcript from each post-secondary institution that you have attended (stating degree conferral if that has occurred).
  • If you are a Dalhousie student or alum, request plangrad@dal.ca to obtain the transcript on your behalf.
If your transcripts are from other institutions (please note, paper transcripts are no longer required):
  • Electronic file-transfers from the issuing institution and from services such as Parchment, National Student Clearinghouse, eScript-Safe, or TranscriptsNetwork. Electronic transcripts should be submitted via email to plangrad@dal.ca.

  • PDF transcripts may be sent by email directly from the issuing institution to plangrad@dal.ca. 

  • Attachments directly from the applicant. This is an exception only available when an issuing institution is unable to provide the documents. Proof of this inability may be required.

4

 A letter or statement of intent 

5

A resumé/CV

 

6

A sample of your writing 

 
Examples of writing samples could include:
  • A brief report/course assignment paper, or excerpt from a long report/course assignment paper – should be first-authored.

  • Email to plangrad@dal.ca

7

Proof of English language proficiency as required 
  • Email a verifiable ELS test results from an English test centre as a PDF document and email to plangrad@dal.ca. 

  • Applicants must request their testing centre to make their results available to Dalhousie University so that the Faculty of Graduate Studies can contact the test centre for verification of the results. 

Accepted English tests and minimum accepted scores are the following:

  • Internet-based TOEFL (Academic iBT): 92
  • MELAB: 85
  • IELTS: 7
  • CanTest: 4.5 with no band score lower than 4.0
  • CAEL: 70 with no band score lower than 60
  • Dalhousie College of Continuing Education (CCE): A-
  • Pearson English Test PTE Academic: overall score of 65 and nothing below 54

 

If, for any reason, you cannot send your application materials via email please use the following address to mail all documentation to Dalhousie's School of Planning: 

Dalhousie University School of Planning
O'Brien Hall, RM 603
5217 Morris St
Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2
CANADA

Things to Note

Dalhousie University adheres to Canadian policies regarding financial obligations for International students. Please outline in your online application your means of funding your studies.

If you are in your fourth year of an undergraduate program, you are permitted to send the transcript with the grades pertaining to last year's Fall term post January 15th. 

If you are an applicant who has been in the workforce for a while, you are permitted to include letters of reference from your workplace. However, at least one of the reference letters should be from the academic institution that you obtained your previous degree.

International students whose previous degree program was conducted in English may have proof of their English proficiency be exempted. Please see this page to determine if you are eligible for exemption.