Application Overview
The application process is online only. Entry into the program occurs once a year, in September. The program is delivered in-person on campus.
The application fee is $130 CAD per application. This fee cannot be waived and is non-refundable.
For more information on each of the application steps, the detailed “How to apply” section can be found below.
Eligibility
- Direct Entry (Bachelor’s-to-PhD):
- A minimum average grade of A- over the final two years in a four-year bachelor’s degree program.
- Applicants may wish to review the Faculty’s research clusters when deciding on the appropriateness of their bachelor’s degree.
- Admission is limited to graduates with a record of academic success who have an interest in research. This pathway is highly competitive; meeting the minimum requirements of the Faculty of Information and the School of Graduate Studies does not guarantee admission.
Application Dates and Deadlines
Application Steps
- List of supporting documents:
- Transcripts
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume
- Research statement
- Statement of interest
- Writing sample
- Three academic letters of reference
- English Language Proficiency (if applicable)
How to Apply: Step by Step
Before You Apply: Contacting Faculty
We strongly encourage prospective applicants to identify potential supervisors and reach out to them
before submitting an application. Admission depends in part on identifying a faculty member whose
interests complement yours; doing this groundwork in advance strengthens your application.
We advise you to consider identifying faculty whose research aligns with yours, and contact them to
discuss research fit and supervisory capacity:
- Faculty Profiles: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/faculty-profiles/ This site provides links
to each member of our Faculty, along with a brief description of their research. Applicants may
find that some faculty members have links to their own personal sites, and others will also post
citations to prior published work. You may consider using Google Scholar on some of our faculty
members to explore their research interests. - Research clusters: https://ischool.utoronto.ca/research/research-areas/ This webpage provides a
list of the current research areas within the Faculty. - You can also visit the following website to find out which faculty are accepting PhD students:
https://ischool.utoronto.ca/phd-in-information/
Formatting and Submission
Unless noted otherwise, all documents should be:
- Submitted as PDF files
- Set in a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman, Arial, or similar)
- Formatted with 1-inch margins
- Written in clear, accessible language for an interdisciplinary committee
Word counts exclude your project title, in-text citations, and bibliography. You may use any consistent
citation style (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.).
Step One:
Apply via School of Graduate Studies (SGS) application site
The application process is online only and takes place through the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) application site. Entry into the program occurs once a year. The next admission entry is for September 2026.
Step Two:
Submit your supporting documents
Supporting Documents
Your application requires: all post-secondary transcripts, a Research Statement, a Personal Statement, and a Writing
Sample. These help the committee assess your research direction, your preparation, and your writing.
Applicants must submit transcript(s) from all post-secondary institutions attended.
Applicants currently in the process of completing their final year of study should submit an interim transcript.
Current and past University of Toronto students applying to Faculty of Information programs may give permission to the Faculty to download an official U of T transcript by emailing admissions.ischool@utoronto.ca.
For the purpose of the application review, you may submit unofficial transcripts using the online application form. If you receive an offer of admission, you’ll need to submit official final transcripts.
Transcripts are considered official when they have been prepared, sealed in an envelope and signed over the back flap by an official at the issuing institution. They are to be sent directly to the Faculty of Information: University of Toronto, 140 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G6.
E-transcripts can be sent directly from your institution(s) to admissions.
The Admissions Committee may at any time during the application process request that applicants submit official transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended.
Standardized tests (such as GMAT or GRE) are not required or requested and will not be considered.
For applicants whose admitting degree was granted outside of North America, the Faculty of Information will accept transcripts sent directly from World Education Services (WES) as official transcripts. The Faculty of Information will consider the evaluation report from WES but will make its own evaluation decision.
It should include:
The Research Statement describes the research you plan to undertake during your PhD and explains why
the Faculty of Information is the right place to do it. Write it as a continuous essay, not as a list of answers
to the prompts below.
A strong Research Statement addresses two areas:
A. Your proposed research
- A short working title for your project.
- The research question(s) you plan to pursue and why they matter.
- The fields and bodies of scholarship your work engages with, supported by a brief literature
review. - Key scholars, practitioners, artists, community leaders, or elders whose work has shaped your
thinking. - What is novel about your project and what it contributes to broader conversations including,
where relevant, how it broadens the range of perspectives, methods, or topics represented at the
Faculty.
B. Fit with the Faculty of Information
- Why the Faculty of Information is the right home for this research.
- One to three faculty members you propose as potential supervisors or committee members, and
why their work matches yours. Note whether you have already been in contact with them. - Courses, programs, or collaborative specializations that will support your work.
- Research centres, institutions, or communities (on or off campus) that are relevant to your project.
Tips - Be specific. Name people, projects, methods, and contexts rather than describing them in general
terms. - Include in-text citations and a bibliography at the end. Neither counts toward the 1,000-word
limit. - Focus on your proposed research, not your background. Your background belongs in the Personal
Statement.
The Personal Statement explains how you arrived at this research and what prepares you to pursue it. It
complements the Research Statement by giving the committee context about your trajectory,
motivations, and the experiences that shape your perspective.
In this essay, please address:
- How you became interested in this area of research and what led you to propose this project.
- The academic, professional, personal, or community-based experiences that have prepared you to
undertake it. Be specific and mention courses, theses, research, creative work, organizing,
activism, or lived experiences are all relevant. - Skills, methods, or areas of knowledge you hope to develop during your PhD.
Tips:
- Be concrete. Name specific projects, courses, or experiences.
- Connect your background to the research direction in your Statement of Purpose, but do not
repeat the same material.
The Writing Sample is a piece of your own academic writing. The committee uses it to assess your
writing and your ability to develop a sustained argument.
Acceptable samples include:
- A course paper
- An excerpt from a thesis or major research paper
- An article submitted or accepted for publication
- A book chapter or comparable publication
Formatting - If you submit a collaboratively authored piece, include a brief statement of contributions
explaining your role. - Submit as a PDF, double-spaced, unless you are submitting a published version in its original
layout.
Three letters are required. If you graduated more than five years ago, you may substitute work letters of reference. Work-related referees should be direct supervisors who can comment on skills that would be useful in the academic environment.
In the application, you will be asked to provide contact information for your referees. Once you have saved the contact information, your referees will be emailed by the School of Graduate Studies with instructions directing them to a secure website where they will submit electronically:
Reference letters should:
References from Traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders
The Faculty of Information is committed to implementing recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada; specifically those concerned with eliminating educational gaps for Aboriginal students, improving education attainment levels and success rates, and developing culturally appropriate curricula.
We recognize that one of the most destructive and enduring artifacts of Canada’s colonial history involves the devaluation of traditional knowledge and cultural practice, and the disenfranchisement of knowledge keepers and elders. As such, and where requested by the applicant, letters of achievement, recognition, and support from community knowledge keepers and elders will be accepted by the admissions committee, and weighted equally to formal academic references.
Applicants whose first language is not English must submit the results of an English Proficiency Test.
The Faculty of Information reserves the right to require evidence of English language proficiency from any applicant educated outside Canada, whose first language is not English. Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English by submitting an acceptable score from one of several English language competency tests.
For graduate programs consult the UofT School of Graduate Studies (SGS) website for information on available tests. Note that the Faculty of Information may require scores higher than the SGS language competency scores (see Faculty of Information minimum scores below). This requirement must be met before the Admissions Committee will review an application.
Rationale
- Programs at the Faculty of Information are language-intensive
- Some courses may use English in very particular philosophical and nuanced ways
- Students are expected to function smoothly and subtly in both written and verbal English
- Students are also expected to be English-language proficient in one-on-one interactions, group work, formal presentations, and in electronic communication media
- For these reasons, the Faculty of Information may require scores higher than the SGS language competency scores
- Scores must be from tests taken within the last two years
Acceptable Tests & Faculty of Information Minimum Scores
TOEFL – Test of English as a Foreign Language
Institution Code for U of T Graduate Studies: 0982-00
- Internet-based Test (iBT)
overall score: 107/120
speaking section: 24/30
writing section: 27/30 - Paper-based Test
overall score: 600
Test of Written English (TWE): 5.5
IELTS – International English Language Testing System (Academic)
overall score: 7.5
Writing: 7.5
Speaking: 7
Cambridge English – C1: Advanced and C2: Proficiency
Required score: 185 overall with at least 176 for each component.
Applicants should use the “Send Your Result” function on the Candidate Results portal (https://candidates.cambridgeenglish.org) to send their results electronically to the University of Toronto.
COPE – Certificate of Proficiency in English
overall score: 95
writing component: 41
each of the other components: 27
English Language Program, UofT School of Continuing Studies
overall score: ‘A’ in Level 60 in Academic English
*Please note, the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) temporarily accepted the Duolingo English Test (DET) to satisfy the English language proficiency requirement for graduate admission to the Fall 2020 session only. Considering that testing centres for both TOEFL and IELTS have been resumed, Duolingo will not be accepted for admissions.
Exemptions
Some applicants may be exempt from completing an English proficiency test if they meet one of the conditions found at the bottom of the following page. Should you have any further questions, please contact us at admissions.
For applicants where English is not their first language but completed an Undergraduate or Graduate degree from an institution where English is used as the medium of instruction and examination, then an English proficiency test result may not be required. However, applicants will be required to provide a letter from their previous institution to verify that English is indeed used as the medium of instruction. This letter should be sent directly to the Faculty of Information on official institution letterhead and email.
The admission committee does reserve the right to request for applicants to provide an English Proficiency Test result during the application process.
Applicants to the direct-entry PhD track submit the same Research Statement, Personal Statement, and
Writing Sample described above, plus one additional document, namely a Research Experience
Statement.
Research Experience Statement (maximum 1,000 words)
Because direct-entry applicants enter the PhD without a master’s, the committee relies on this document
for detailed evidence that you are prepared to lead an independent doctoral project. Use it to describe,
concretely, the substantive research you have already undertaken at the undergraduate level.
For each significant research experience, please describe:
- The project’s title, dates, and the institution or community context in which it was undertaken.
- The research question or problem and its broader significance.
- Your specific role and contributions. If the work was collaborative, be clear about which parts
were yours. - The methods or approaches you used (e.g., archival, ethnographic, computational, design-based,
statistical, participatory). - Outcomes such as publications, conference presentations, deposited theses, exhibitions, reports,
deliverables, code, among others. - The research skills you developed and what the experience taught you.
Suitable experiences to describe include, but are not limited to:
- An honours thesis or major undergraduate research paper.
- Funded undergraduate research (e.g., NSERC USRA, SSHRC, work-study or summer research
awards). - A supervised independent study or directed reading with a research output.
- A research assistantship in a faculty member’s lab, project, or initiative.
- Sole- or co-authored publications, conference papers, or working papers.
- Community-based participatory research, action research, or Indigenous-led research
projects. - Research-creation, artistic research, curatorial projects, or exhibitions with a substantive
research component. - Policy research, government research placements, or parliamentary and legislative
internships with a research mandate. - Journalistic, documentary, or investigative work involving primary research, original
interviews, archival work, or data analysis. - Digital humanities projects, open-source technical contributions, or computational
analyses with public-facing outputs. - Library, archival, or museum fieldwork such as cataloguing projects, finding-aid
development, oral histories, or collection-based research. - Activist, organizing, or social-movement research that you helped design, conduct, or
document.
Tips:
- Connect each experience to the research you propose in your Statement of Purpose such as what
did it prepare you for, and what do you still need to develop at the PhD level? - Do not duplicate material from your Statement of Purpose or Personal Statement; this document
is specifically about completed research work.
Step Three:
Post-application
Application Status Check
You may log in to your profile on the application website to confirm the receipt of your supporting documents, including letters of recommendation, and to amend your current contact information.
Your application will be marked “Under Review” when it has gone to the Admissions Committee for consideration.
Review process
The Admissions Committee takes a holistic approach in reviewing candidates. Emphasis is not placed on any specific area but on the overall application. Meeting the minimum requirements of the Faculty of Information and the School of Graduate Studies does not guarantee admission.
Applicants may be contacted for an interview during the application review process.
Admission is based on the availability of a faculty member to support your research. It is important to us that our admitted PhD students are well supported in their area of research by their supervisors. Therefore, you should proactively reach out to Faculty members who are conducting research in the area you are interested in ahead of time to ensure that you will have a supervisor who has the expertise to support your research.
Notification of decisions
Decisions will be communicated on the application website. Decisions are made as soon as it is possible to do so, rather than by a specific date. By the end of the admissions cycle (typically in May) the outcome of all applications should be communicated.