UBC International Scholars Program 2026

Who can apply

International student who will study in Canada on a Canadian study permit, entering UBC directly from an accredited secondary school, for a first undergraduate degree
For the 2027 Winter session, graduated from high school no earlier than June 2026
Demonstrated significant financial need: pursuing a UBC degree would be impossible without meaningful financial help, and the family cannot afford a significant share of costs and has no access to external funding; a full financial assessment of family income, expenses and assets is required
Applying to this programme rules out consideration for UBC's separate merit-based international awards; the two are mutually exclusive
Meets UBC's general and degree-specific admission requirements and demonstrates superior academic achievement (all As or equivalent)
Meets UBC's English Language Admission Standard for direct entry, or is otherwise assessed for the Vantage One Excellence Award and Vantage College route
Requires one nominator (a guidance counsellor, principal or administrator) and one teacher referee, who must be different people; a high school or registered non-profit may nominate up to two students for UBC Vancouver (including Vantage College) and one for UBC Okanagan; non-profit nomination is intended for applicants from war-torn, politically unstable or economically disadvantaged areas with no other educational option

One application, four possible awards, and you don’t choose

You do not select which award you are applying for. One application is automatically considered against all four named awards you are eligible for: the Karen McKellin International Leader of Tomorrow Award, the Donald A. Wehrung International Student Award, the International Impact Award, and the Vantage One Excellence Award for applicants who do not yet meet the direct-entry English language standard. Each has its own emphasis, leadership and community impact for one, students from impoverished or war-torn backgrounds for another, sustainability and social-justice work for a third, but you write one application and UBC’s own team sorts out which category actually fits.

This and UBC’s merit-based awards are mutually exclusive

Applying here forecloses a different route: UBC states plainly that applying to the International Scholars Program means you will not be considered for the university’s separate merit-based international awards. The two award tracks are need-based versus merit-based respectively, and UBC’s own advice is to review both option sets first and decide which one actually fits your situation, since you cannot apply to both and see which one succeeds.

A second, earlier document deadline that a general admissions email won’t tell you

There is a specific trap here worth naming directly. Several weeks after your general UBC application, you will get a standard “next steps” follow-up email from the Undergraduate Admissions Office listing a document deadline. As an International Scholars Program applicant, that date does not apply to you: your real document deadline, for transcripts and English test results alike, is 31 January 2027, and UBC says explicitly it cannot proceed with your Scholars Program application if anything required for UBC admission itself is still missing by then.

The nomination step depends on people outside your control

You need two separate people to act before you can even submit: a nominator, typically a guidance counsellor, principal or school administrator, who can speak to your character and goals, and a teacher referee familiar with your academic work, and they must be two different individuals. Each high school can only nominate up to two students for UBC Vancouver and one for UBC Okanagan, so confirm with your own school early that a nomination slot is actually available to you before you build a whole application around it. A registered non-profit can nominate in place of a high school, but UBC frames that route specifically for applicants from war-torn, politically unstable or economically disadvantaged regions with no other educational option, not as a general workaround.

A programme with 25 years and 560-plus alumni behind it

This is not a new or experimental initiative. UBC’s own materials describe more than 560 International Scholars since the programme began in 2001, representing over 108 countries, alongside more than 200 hours of developmental workshops and one-on-one support available to each Scholar over the course of their degree. That scale is worth knowing if you are weighing how established the support network and alumni community actually are before you commit significant application effort.

UBC International Scholars Program