Faculty of Nursing Lottery Admission Process
Effective Fall 2026, the Faculty of Nursing is implementing a lottery admission process for its main campus Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program
University of Calgary’s main campus Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program is adjusting its admission process beginning Fall 2026 in response to increasing admission averages and the high numbers of nurses leaving the profession within the first two years of practice. By shifting to a lottery approach, qualified applicants will have an equal chance of admission.
Choose UCalgary Podcast - Bachelor of Science in Nursing Changes
Season 9 Episode 16: In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Catherine Laing, BPE, RN, PhD, Interim Dean of UCalgary Nursing, for an insightful conversation about upcoming changes to the admission process for the Faculty of Nursing’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program, starting with the Fall 2026 intake. Dr. Laing also shares her perspective on what makes UCalgary’s nursing program stand out and why students should consider it for their nursing education.
Nursing Lottery Admission Process
Main campus BScN beginning Fall 2026
Applications continue to be submitted through the same application for admission. Learn how to apply.
When you apply to UCalgary, you can pick two program choices on your application for admission. If you receive an offer to your first choice, this is the only offer you will receive. If you receive an offer to your second choice, we’ll continue to consider you for your first choice each time new grades are received and for each lottery selection round, you're qualified for.
As of Fall 2026, Nursing can only be selected as the first choice in the application for admission.
Students can add or change their second-choice program until the March 1 application deadline.
Required courses remain the same and are found on the admission requirements page: BScN (year 1) and BScN (year 2).
Students who apply, submit all required documents (including paying the non-refundable application fee) by the document submission deadline, and who meet the competitive lottery threshold, will be entered into the lottery process; those who are selected in the lottery will be admitted.
This process will repeat at each selection round throughout the application cycle until the program is full.
To meet the competitive lottery threshold, students must have the required courses and be at or above the competitive admission average.
Required courses and the competitive admission average are noted on the admission requirements page: BScN (year 1) and BScN (year 2).
The competitive admission average will be set annually based on the pool of applicants.
For Fall 2026, the competitive admission averages will be as follows:
- High school admission: 82.0%
- Transfer: 3.00 GPA
Students with courses in progress who do not meet the competitive lottery threshold, will be reviewed again when additional grades are received.
Students with no courses in progress who do not meet the competitive lottery threshold will receive notification that their application has been denied.
All required documents must be submitted (including paying the non-refundable application fee) by the document submission deadline for your application to be evaluated for that selection round.
Students can see the required documents in the ‘To do’ list of their Student Centre.
Once all students who met the document submission deadline for the round have been evaluated, all students who meet the competitive lottery threshold will be entered into the lottery process.
Each selection round will allocate 20-40% of seats and will be conducted within 30 days from the document submission deadline.
Students who are not selected in a lottery round will automatically be entered into the next selection round, there is no need for a new application. If additional documents are needed, these will be noted in the ‘To do’ list of the Student Centre.
We encourage applicants to apply and submit the required documents early to be included in multiple selection rounds. If your application requires faculty or department review in order to determine whether you meet the competitive lottery threshold, your evaluation decision and entry to the lottery may be delayed to the following round.
Lottery selection will take place within 30 days from the round document submission deadline.
High School
- Round 1: November 1
- Round 2: March 1
- Round 3: April 1
- Round 4: May 1
Transfer
- Round 1: January 31
- Round 2: May 15
- Round 3: June 15
Additional selection rounds may be considered until August 15 if space is available.
Once all seats have been filled, students will be notified that they are no longer being considered because all positions in the program are full.
Selection will happen within 30 days from the document submission deadline.
Review process
- Students who meet the competitive lottery threshold:
- Will be placed in the lottery.
- An updated message will appear in their Student Centre that they have moved to the lottery selection stage.
- Students who do not meet the competitive lottery threshold:
- Will receive messaging indicating the reason (below average, missing required courses etc.).
- If the student has courses in-progress: when updated grades are received, they will be reviewed again and eligible for subsequent selection rounds if they become qualified (students do not need to apply again).
- If the student does not have courses in-progress: the admission decision is final, unless the student has applied through an alternate admission pathway.
- The lottery will take place as soon as all applications completed by the document deadline have been reviewed. This will be no later than 30 days after the submission deadline.
- A randomized selection tool will select students from the pool of applicants who have met the competitive lottery threshold and entered the lottery selection stage.
- Students who are selected in the lottery will receive an offer of admission.
- Students who are not selected will see updated messaging in their Student Centre that they were not selected but will be considered for upcoming selection rounds.
Offers of admission will be finalized when students meet the conditions of admission as listed in their Student Centre. At a minimum, students must have completed all the required courses for admission and maintain an average at or above the competitive admission average.
Admission Deposit Deadline
To secure their spot, students have 30 days from the offer of admission to accept the offer and pay the admission deposit. The non-refundable admission deposit will be applied toward first-year tuition fees.
Frequently asked questions
The application fee is non-refundable.
When you apply to UCalgary, you can pick two program choices on your application for admission. If you are not granted admission to Nursing, we have many other great programs to explore. You can change your program choices on your application until March 1.
All students will be considered through the lottery process.
Apply and submit your documents early.
Additional information or documents will not be considered for students applying through the competitive lottery process.
Additional admission pathways
Equitable and Inclusive Admission
The Equitable and Inclusive Admission Process (EQA) considers factors outside of academics that have impacted your access, opportunity, or ability to succeed. You can select to be considered through the EQA process in your application for admission until the application deadline.
Students who apply through the Equitable and Inclusive Admission (EQA) process and meet the competitive lottery threshold will be entered into the lottery process. In addition, students who submit the EQA personal statement will also have their application reviewed by the Faculty of Nursing through the Equitable and Inclusive faculty review process.
Students who apply through the Equitable and Inclusive Admission (EQA) process and who do not meet the competitive lottery threshold, but have the required courses for admission, will be reviewed through the EQA process only.
Indigenous Admissions
Indigenous students who meet the competitive lottery threshold will be admitted. Students must provide documentation on Indigenous citizenship/membership prior to course registration.
Indigenous students can also be considered through the Indigenous Admission Process (IAP). Through IAP, Indigenous students who have the required courses are automatically admitted with a lower admission average (up to 10% lower for high school applicants, 0.5 GPA below for transfer applicants). Students must provide documentation on Indigenous citizenship/membership prior to course registration.
Indigenous students who have the required courses, but whose average is below the Indigenous Admission Process (IAP) average can be considered through the Indigenous Admission Supplementary Process (IASP).
Curious about our other undergraduate programs? Explore all of our programs and view their requirements