Urban Planning

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About Urban Planning
Urban Planning Admission Requirements and Application Procedures

About Urban Planning

Urban planning is the set of processes by which communities shape their environments to meet their needs and to realize their aspirations for the future. Urban planning is also the profession of those who facilitate this process. While the practice of planning is as old as the cities themselves, the profession of urban planning is only about a century old. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, architects, landscape architects, engineers, government reformers, lawyers, public health specialists, and others joined forces to tackle the serious social and environmental problems of the industrial city. They created new techniques and institutions to improve living conditions and decision-making processes, with an eye to improving cities in terms of health, safety, efficiency, equity, beauty, identity, etc. Today, people who enter the profession come from diverse backgrounds as well, including the design professions, engineering and applied sciences, environmental and social studies, and other fields. Their chief task is to reinvent tools, procedures, and processes to meet new challenges in making metropolitan areas socially, economically, and environmentally resilient and just. A key feature of planning education is learning to view issues in a multidisciplinary way, to manage processes of collaboration and of conflict, and to generate equitable and efficient solutions to complex problems of growth and development.

Urban Planning Admission Requirements and Application Procedures

Application Procedures

McGill’s online application form for graduate program candidates is available at mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/how-apply.

See Application Procedures and mcgill.ca/urbanplanning/how-apply for detailed application procedures.

Note: The M.U.P. program is not offered on a part-time basis.

Additional Requirements

The items and clarifications below are additional requirements set by this department for the Master of Science (M.Sc.) Urban Planning, Policy, and Design program. Applicants are required to upload:

A current version of your curriculum vitae.
A statement of your research objectives, not exceeding two pages, including:
- An explanation of your motivation for pursuing the M.Sc. degree in Urban Planning, Policy, and Design;
- A clearly-articulated but concise discussion of your research interests, proposed topic, and methods, with citations; and
- The identification of potential faculty supervisors for your research.
Two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a current or past professor.
Proof of competency in oral and written English for applicants whose mother tongue is not English, and who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a recognized foreign institution where English is the language of instruction or from a recognized Canadian institution (anglophone or francophone). By the application deadline for the program, appropriate exam results must be sent electronically directly from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) Office (Note: McGill's Institutional Code is 0935). The minimum requirement for the TOEFL is a score of 100 on the Internet-based test (iBT), with each component score not less than 23. The minimum score for the IELTS test is 7.0, with a score of at least 6.5 for each component.
Two examples of independent written work (e.g., course papers, articles, chapters, research reports) in English or in French.

The items and clarifications below are additional requirements set by this department for the Master of Urban Planning (M.U.P) program. Applicants are required to upload:

A personal statement of one to two pages, explaining your motivation for applying to the School, area(s) of specific interest, and longer-term career goals.
A current version of your curriculum vitae.
Two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a current or past professor.
Proof of English proficiency. Minimum score the same as for the M.Sc. Urban Planning, Policy, and Design program (see above).

The items and clarifications below are additional requirements set by this department for the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Urban Planning, Policy, and Design program. As an applicant you are required to upload:

A current version of your curriculum vitae.
A statement of research objectives, not exceeding three pages, including:
- An outline of long-term career goals;
- An explanation of why you believe that a Ph.D. in Urban Planning, Policy, and Design would help you achieve those goals; and
- A clearly-articulated but concise discussion of research interests, intended research plans, and proposed methodological approaches.
Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which must be from a current or past professor.
Proof of English proficiency. Minimum scores are the same as for the M.Sc. Urban Planning, Policy, and Design program (see above).
Two examples of independent written work (e.g., course papers, articles, chapters, research reports) in English or in French.

Awards and Financial Assistance

The Admissions Committee decides the allocation of internal awards for incoming students after the application deadline, and they are allocated, in part, based on merit; no special application is needed to be considered for this funding. Canadian students can also enter the program with a major external fellowship from a government funding agency such as SSHRC or NSERC. Descriptions of the external awards can be found at mcgill.ca/gps/funding.

Application Dates and Deadlines

Application opening dates are set by Enrolment Services in consultation with Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS), while application deadlines are set by the School of Urban Planning and may be revised at any time. Applicants must verify all deadlines and documentation requirements well in advance on the appropriate McGill departmental website; please consult the list at mcgill.ca/gps/contact/graduate-program.

Information on application deadlines is available at mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/how-apply/you-apply-mcgill/application-deadlines.

Admission to graduate studies is competitive; accordingly, late and /or incomplete applications are considered only as time and space permit.

Available Programs

Program Overview

The Master of Urban Planning (M.U.P.) program is a two-year course of study that attracts students from Quebec, Canada, the U.S., and overseas. It is recognized by the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec (OUQ) and the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP). Graduates may become full members of the OUQ and other provincial planning associations by completing their respective internship and examination requirements. The core program provides a general education in spatial planning in its functional, environmental, and social dimensions. Formal specializations are available in Transportation Planning and Urban Development and Urban Design. Those interested in pursuing the the M.U.P. can learn more about the M.U.P. specializations on our school's website. In all cases, complementary courses, the summer internship, and the Supervised Research Project allow for individual concentration on a particular topic.

Prospective students for the M.Sc. in Urban Planning, Policy, and Design propose a topic for thesis work supervised by a faculty member in the School. Once admitted to the program, students develop, initiate, and complete the thesis research, with supporting coursework in the history and theory of planning, methods, research design, and topics relevant to the student’s research. Further information on the M.Sc. is available on the School of Urban Planning website.

2025-2026