Gathering your documents

Born in Quebec

To confirm your identity and your status as a Canadian citizen born in Quebec, you must provide: 

• A copy of your birth certificate, if you have never pursued a post-secondary education in Quebec. This will enable you to be issued a permanent code. 

Canadian citizen

A Canadian citizen is a person who is Canadian by birth (either born in Canada or born outside Canada to a Canadian citizen who was themselves either born in Canada or granted citizenship); or has applied for a grant of citizenship and has received citizenship (naturalization).*

To confirm your identity and your Canadian citizenship status, you must provide:

• A copy of your birth certificate, if you have never pursued a post-secondary education in Quebec 
• The front and back of your Canadian citizenship card or citizenship certificate (if you are born outside Canada) 
• Proof of your resident status in Quebec, by completing the Attestation of Québec Resident Status form to determine your status and the documents you will need to provide (if this situation applies to you)

Permanent resident

A permanent resident is a person who has acquired permanent resident status by immigrating to Canada, but who is not yet a Canadian citizen. Permanent residents are citizens of other countries.* 

To confirm your identity and status as a Quebec resident, you must provide: 

• A copy of your birth certificate, if you have never pursued a post-secondary education in Quebec 
• The front and back of your permanent resident card or form IMM 1000, IMM 5688 or IMM 5292, signed and dated 
• Proof of your status as a resident of Quebec by completing the Attestation of Québec Resident Status form to determine your status and the documents you will need to provide (if this situation applies to you)

Foreign applicant 

A foreign student is a temporary resident who is legally authorized to study in Canada on a temporary basis.*

If you were born outside of Canada and do not have Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status, you will have to:

• Provide a copy of your birth certificate 
• Take steps to obtain the Quebec Acceptance Certificate and study permit from UdeM International

If you are a French citizen, provide a copy of your passport to be exempted from increased tuition fees, in accordance with an agreement between France and Quebec 

If you are a Francophone Belgian citizen, provide a copy of your Belgian passport and your Francophone Belgian identity card to be exempted from increased tuition fees, in accordance with an agreement between French-speaking Belgium and Quebec 

* Source : Immigration and Citizenship Glossary, Government of Canada 

Some programs may require specific documents to support your application. See the admission requirements in the program descriptions to find out which additional documents are required, if any.

College applicant 

If you have completed or are in the process of completing your college education in Quebec, you do not need to provide your college transcript because we obtain the information directly from the Ministère de l’Éducation.

University applicant

If you have a Quebec Diploma of College Studies (DEC), you do not need to provide your college transcript because we obtain the information directly from the Ministère de l’Éducation. 

You must provide a copy of your last official transcript showing all grades, including uncompleted programs, courses or programs taken through university exchanges or by distance and failed courses, as well as any documents attesting that you have obtained the diploma or degree awarded in support of your application. If you have taken more than one program at the same university, ensure that your transcript includes grades for all the courses you have taken. 

If you are studying or have previously studied at the Université de Montréal, you do not need to provide your transcript from this institution. However, if you attended Polytechnique Montréal or HEC Montréal, you must provide a transcript, as indicated above. 

To send an official transcript from another university institute in Quebec, the most efficient way is to order a digital copy from the university in question. Choose the transmission method “BCI or ETX / Electronic Transcript Exchange” and select Université de Montréal from the drop-down list in your transcript’s transmission form.

Studies outside Canada

You must attach a copy of your official transcripts from the last year of secondary school and every subsequent year of studies, university or other. These transcripts must give a detailed account of the results from each of these years, including failed and retaken years. If applicable, you must also provide a copy of any diplomas awarded, as well as the results of any exams or competitions showing completion of studies (for example, the transcript of baccalaureate exam results).

Undergraduate

To be eligible, all candidates must provide proof of a level of knowledge of French corresponding to the requirement for the program(s) of study they are applying to. 

If you did not pass the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur du Québec’s college level Épreuve uniforme de français, langue d’enseignement et littérature, or if your previous studies were not entirely in a unilingual French context, you will be required to provide proof of your level of knowledge of French by sending an attestation of test results or diploma accepted by Université de Montréal. The test must have been completed in the 18 months prior to the start of the semester you are applying for. 

To find the level required for the program(s) of study you are applying to, see the admission requirements in the program description. 

The number of attempts to pass tests or diplomas accepted by the UdeM is at the discretion of applicants. However, the University only considers the first result that it receives from applicants. 

We encourage applicants to obtain their attestation as early as possible because some providers of these tests anticipate a waiting period of 1 to 10 weeks for results to arrive.  

Contact UdeM français (page in French)

Exemption

An exemption can be requested from the CCE when the applicant meets one of the specified criteria.

Access the exemption form (page in French)

Graduate studies

A request for proof of the level of knowledge of French is added on a case-by-case basis depending on previous studies and the Faculty’s requirement. See the admission requirements in the program description to find out if this requirement applies to the program(s) you are applying to. 

Applicants must obtain authorization from the Comité des études supérieures to be exempt from this requirement.

Some programs require a letter of recommendation. If so, this will be indicated in the program description under admission requirements.

If you have to submit one or more letters of recommendation, your recommenders must send them directly to the University by following the procedure that will be emailed to them. To do this, you must enter your recommenders' contact information in the Centre étudiant. 

Before completing this task, it is strongly recommended that you contact your recommender to make your request.

Procedure for your recommender:

• An email will be sent to your recommender from the Université de Montréal, which will include a letter of recommendation form in PDF format. 
• Once completed, this PDF form must be uploaded by the recommender using the link and code found in the email. 
• It is important to remember that the link will be valid for 10 working days only. Once this period has expired, the recommender will no longer be able to submit a recommendation. You will then have to find a new recommender. 
• When your recommender submits their letter, the task will disappear from your Centre étudiant in the next few hours. 

Need to change a recommender?

As long as the task is not yet completed, you can edit your recommender's contact information or change the recommender. 

The University reserves the right to communicate with a recommender at all times.

Uploaded transcripts, diplomas and identity documents must be official; that is, they must be copies of original documents or photocopies certified as true copies by an authorized person. The document is not considered official if the words “true copy” have been reproduced by photocopy before the document is uploaded.

Important

The University will refuse any screenshots, photographs or prints of an unofficial document.

For control purposes, the University reserves the right to require the original version of an admission or identity document. If this occurs, you will be notified through your Centre étudiant. If you are a foreign student, make sure that you bring the original versions or certified true copies of your documents to Quebec to avoid having to make arrangements remotely.

Original diplomas will be returned to you if live in Canada or the United States. If you would like to recover the other original documents sent (except letters of recommendation), please send with them a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Otherwise, the original documents will remain the property of the Université de Montréal and will be kept for one year. You will be able to have them returned by submitting a request to the Bureau du registraire.

Find out more about the verification of original documents

If you make a false or incomplete declaration or if you provide falsified or fraudulent documents, you risk significant penalties.

Required documents for the application that are not in English or French must be accompanied, in the same PDF document, by a French translation certified by the consulate of the applicant’s country of origin or a member of the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec.