All students interested in applying for admission in M.Sc., M.A. or Ph.D. programs offered by the School of Earth, Environment & Society are required to submit a formal application using our on-line system. These applications should ideally be submitted before the current posted deadline. However, in some specific cases, the School may accept applications later than this date.

UPDATE: Please note that SEES’ online application system is now opened for a September 2026 start. We encourage both Domestic and Visa (International) applicants to apply. The deadline for all VISA Masters applications is January 14, 2026. After this date, we will no longer be excepting Visa applications to our Masters program. UPDATE: The deadline for all other applications has now been extended to May 1, 2026.

NOTE: As part of your application, SEES asks that you attempt to contact a potential supervisor directly and PRIOR to submitting your online application for the possibility of starting a SEES graduate program (see “Potential Supervisor” below for more information).

1. The applicant should submit: An application using our on-line application system. Start on-line application here.
2. An application fee of $150.00 CDN. This fee is non-refundable and must be paid in Canadian dollars by means of a valid credit card or debit card.
3. A Statement of Research Interest(s). The statement should be no longer than two pages in length and may include your background and past experiences along with your future career goals and interests. SEES also asks that you submit your current CV/Resume with your application. Two letters of recommendation are to be directly submitted online by two academic instructors most familiar with your work. These recommendation letters will be completed by filling an on-line ‘Referee’s Report on Graduate Applicant’ form. Hard copies of this form may be downloaded from the Graduate Studies website and sent by email to geograd@mcmaster.ca
4. All post-secondary official transcripts (with legend). Your transcripts should be downloaded directly online in your application. If you can not submit official transcripts at the time of the application, unofficial transcripts will be accepted but must have the legend attached. PLEASE NOTE: To apply to our graduate program(s) here in SEES, you need to have an Honours Undergraduate Degree (or a degree of 4 years in total). This applies to both Canadain and Visa applicants.
5. An official copy of your TOEFL score if English is not your native language. The School requires a minimum score of 580 (or 237 on the computer based TOEFL test) 92 on the internet. Alternatively, an official copy of your IELTS (must have a 6.5 minimum score overall) is required.

Applicants should apply as early as possible, as acceptance is on a competitive basis. Applicants with superior academic record will be recommended for University Scholarships.

To be accepted for study, the applicant’s academic record must satisfy the Graduate Committee of the School of Earth, Environment & Society and the University (and have the appropriate required academic credentials), and there must also be a faculty member to supervise thesis work. A limited number of foreign (visa) students with exceptional academic records may also be admitted to our graduate program.

All full-time graduate students admitted to the School of Earth, Environment & Society, without any external funding or scholarships, receive basic financial support from the University for two years (M.A./M.Sc.) or four years (Ph.D.). Many of our candidates are successful in obtaining additional external scholarships (eg, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council or Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada).

In addition to financial support from the University, students receive a research assistantship or a teaching assistantship in the School’s teaching program to a maximum of 10 hours per week for each of the 26 weeks of the undergraduate teaching year.

After paying tuition and all other fees, our graduate students receive funding towards living expenses. Tuition fees and incidental fees are listed here.

Our graduate programs are strongly research oriented. The completion of a thesis is the main focus of all our degree programs. We encourage all prospective students to review the websites of our faculty members for current research projects and select an appropriate area of interest and potential thesis supervisor. Please directly contact any faculty member in the School to find out if he or she is willing to supervise and be sure to send along your resume and statement of your future interests via email. A list of the faculty members taking on students in the 2026-27 academic year can be found here.

Please make sure to list at least one potential supervisor on your application or the application will not be reviewed. SEES strongly suggests that you try and connect with a potential supervisor even before applying.

Transcripts, letters of recommendation or any other required documents should be sent to the following mailing address (if needed to be sent by mail):

Salomé Santos-Blaguski
Academic Program Assistant-Graduate
School of Earth, Environment & Society
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West (GSB 206)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1
Email: geograd@mcmaster.ca

For further details about our Graduate Program, you may contact:
Dr. Ed Reinhardt
Chair, Grad Committee
School of Earth, Environment & Society
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1
Email: ereinhar@mcmaster.ca