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Admission Requirements

Students entering the eHealth program may be admitted from a variety of suitable undergraduate degrees. They will belong to a community with a variety of backgrounds in related fields, with common interests in information technology to support health services delivery and research. The main requirements are a passion for the study of eHealth, a background in computing and a strong interest in the use of computing support in health care applications.

A background in health sciences, life sciences, business, or computer science is an asset, but not a requirement. The Admissions Committee will judge each candidate’s suitability for the program.

These are Minimum Requirements and meeting them does not guarantee admittance.

Undergraduate Degree
- Successful completion a four-year Honours Bachelor’s degree with at least a B+ (or the equivalent grade point average). Grade calculations are completing using 4th year level courses and 3rd year level courses to a total of 10 courses.
- Applicants currently completing the final stages of a bachelor’s degree can be considered. Undergraduate degree completion, meeting the minimum grade point average, would be a condition on the applicant’s offer to join the eHealth MSc program.
English Language Proficiency
- A minimum TOEFL (iBT) score of 100. The IELTS minimum is 7.0 overall. TOEFL and IELTS scores are valid for 2 years.
- Applicants are exempt from this requirement if they have completed a university degree at an accredited university where English is the language of instruction and evaluation. For universities outside North America, a clear statement on your transcripts or a letter from the institution confirming the language of instruction and evaluation is English must be included when you submit your application.
Computer Science Requirement
- A background in computer science is not required to apply to the program. However, if you are accepted and do not have a computer science background, you will be expected to complete preparatory courses before the program begins in September. Details about these exercises will be provided after you accept your offer.
- To meet the preparatory requirement, you must complete two computer science-related courses. These can be:
  - Undergraduate or community college courses
  - Microcredentials
  - Professional development courses
  - Certificate courses from virtual e-learning platforms (e.g., Coursera, Codecademy, DataCamp, Udacity, etc)
- The two required courses must cover the following topics:
  - Programming: Any course that teaches a programming language (e.g. Python, Java, C++, etc)
  - Database design or data structures and algorithms.

Fees and Funding

Tuition and Fees

The fee schedule provides details about tuition and supplementary fees for domestic students (see information under the Faculty of Business tab).

International students should be aware that tuition fees are substantially higher than for Canadian students. External funding opportunities for international students are also limited.

Please note that fees are assessed per academic year.

In addition to these fees, full-time students must pay a one-time, $1500 internship fee and supplementary fees. See the Registrar’s website for a breakdown of supplementary fees.

Payment Method

Payments are made directly to McMaster University’s Student Accounts and Cashiers office.

Financial Support

Full-time students

Successful candidates may be awarded a graduate scholarship. Any scholarship awards will be noted in the offer of admission.

Students may be eligible for funding support. Please see the Scholarship website for information about scholarship availability and application process.

Part-time students

There is no financial support for part-time students.

Application cycle for admission Fall 2026

Open: September 1, 2025
Close: January 31, 2026 at 11:59 pm

The eHealth MSc program does not have a January or May admission.

Please note that we do NOT use rolling admissions. Completed applications will be reviewed only after the January deadline with results communicated in the new year.

Please read the admission requirements before you apply.

Questions

Required Documentation

All documents should be scanned and uploaded directly into the application portal where prompted.

CV/Resume: Please limit the resume to two pages and use the eHealth Resume Template
Unofficial Transcripts
Unofficial transcripts for all post-secondary study at a university level. Upload a scanned copy. Original/official transcripts and language testing results will only be required if applicants are accepted into the program.
References
Two references including at least one academic reference is preferred. Enter the name, institution, and email address for each referee. Referees will receive an email containing a link to provide their reference. Professional references may be used if applicants cannot access two academic referees, in the reference section, please select: Professional in lieu of Academic Reference.
IELTS or TOEFL Results
Thesis Stream Only: Research Statement
Provide a one page Research Statement that includes (in your own words):
- a summary of your research accomplishments
- a potential research problem in eHealth that you are interested in studying and
- brief details of a possible research method you could use to address the problem

Application Process

Review the step-by-step process on the School of Graduate Studies website

Ready to apply? The application portal opens on September 1, 2025.

Application Portal

Admit Term: September (no admissions in May or January)
Faculty: Interdisciplinary
Select eHealth MSc program; select either course-based or thesis
Note: The part time course based program is only open to domestic/permanent resident candidates
2025 Application Notes

More Details

Application Fee

Applications must be accompanied by the required $150 application fee.

This fee is non-refundable and must be paid in Canadian dollars.
The application fee cannot be waived.
If there is an issue with payment, the application will not submit.
When payment is approved, applicants will receive an application acknowledgement email confirming that the application has been submitted successfully.

What Comes Next

Our admission committee reviews each completed application that meets the minimum requirements noted on the Admissions tab.

If you are applying for one of the full-time options, a face-to-face interview is the final step of the application process. The interview helps determine how suitable you are for an 8-month internship, which is a required component of the full-time program.