How to Apply
Admissions are open from October 17, 2024 to February 17, 2025.
Because the MPP program operates as a cohort, students are admitted exclusively for the fall semester and on a full-time basis; there are no spring or summer admissions. For more information, please refer to our FAQs and overview of financial support. Each year, we typically accept around 35 students from a pool of 200-300 applications.
We typically inform applicants of the outcome of their application in April or May, with the program beginning in early September. If you have competing offers and impending deadlines that require an earlier decision from our program, please contact our Graduate Chair (spp_grad_chair@sfu.ca) directly.
Questions?
Contact the MPP Graduate Assistant here.
Ready to Apply? Follow these steps.
Step 1
Review the general admission requirements to a master's program here.
If you have questions about these requirements, please contact SFU Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies directly by submitting a ticket.
Step 2
Gather our specific requirements for your application.
- Transcripts: We require official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have attended, including institutions you’ve attended on transfer or exchange.
- Unofficial transcripts are sufficient at the time of application. At the time of application, unofficial copies of your transcripts are sufficient and can be uploaded online within the application system.
- Official transcripts are required following admission. Please note that if you are accepted into the program, you will be required to mail official, sealed copies to SFU Graduate Studies and that these must be received before you will be able to enroll in courses. These will need to be sent directly from the granting institution.
- Resume or curriculum vitae: We require a resume or curriculum vitae, highlighting any public policy work and volunteer experience you have. We understand public policy broadly and welcome you to include government, civil society/advocacy, private sector, think tank and other related experience.
- Three letters of reference: We require three confidential letters of reference. At least two of these should come from faculty members at universities, while one can be a professional reference (we do not accept personal references).
- Letter of intent: We require a letter of intent explaining to the admissions committee why you wish to undertake the MPP degree within our program.
- Your letter of intent should clearly detail your public policy interests and goals, your hopes for the future, and the ideas and problems that motivate you to focus on public policy.
- This letter is an opportunity to tell us about yourself, explain what makes your record, expertise, leadership, and background distinctive, and why you’d make a great contributor to our MPP cohort.
- You are not required to secure a supervisor or submit an elaborate thesis proposal to apply to our program. However, if you know what you would like to write your Major Research Project on and which faculty you’d most like to work with, please do briefly explain this in your letter.
- Most letters of intent are around one page. There is a two-page maximum and longer letters may not be read.
- For international students: If you have not undertaken an undergraduate or graduate degree from a University in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, or Australia, we require you to submit a Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score.
Step 3
Apply online through goGRAD here.
Application requires a fee of $110 CDN (domestic students) or $150 CDN (international students).
Applications are reviewed only after this fee has been paid.