How to Apply Through OUAC, Step by Step (Fall 2027)
From making your account to accepting an offer: what you do in the OUAC application, and what happens on its own.
You apply to every Ontario university through one online form run by OUAC, the Ontario Universities' Application Centre. For Fall 2027 that form has a new name: the Undergraduate application, which replaces the old 101 and 105 applications. It takes about an hour once your choices are settled. Most of the stress comes from not knowing what happens after you click submit. This guide walks through each step, using OUAC's own guide for this cycle.
Group A or Group B
There is now one application for everyone, and it sorts you into a group from your answers. You are in Group A if you are taking at least one Ontario high school course, you are under 21 on December 31, 2026, and you have or are working toward an OSSD with six 4U/M courses. That covers almost every Grade 12 student in Ontario. Everyone else is in Group B, including students outside Ontario, international students and graduates who have left high school. The group matters because the January deadline, the grade upload and the June 1 rule below apply to Group A.
Step 1: Make your account
You create your OUAC account yourself on OUAC's site: your name, date of birth and email, then a username and password. Choose the Undergraduate application when it asks. Use a personal email address you check often, not your school address, because universities email you there for months after you apply. OUAC sends a verification email straight away, so check your junk folder if it doesn't arrive. Inside the application you'll be asked for your Ontario Education Number (OEN), a 9-digit number on your report card. Don't confuse it with your school student number. Guidance has it if you can't find it.
Step 2: Choose your programs
You can apply to as many Ontario universities as you like, but to no more than three programs at any one university, and some universities set a lower limit. The order you list them in usually doesn't affect admission decisions. Decide on your programs before you open the form. A useful mix is a few you would love to get into, a few where your projected average sits right at the usual range, and at least one where it sits comfortably above. Check each program's prerequisites now: if a required course is missing from your timetable, it is much easier to fix in November than in May.
Step 3: Fill in the form and pay
The form asks for your personal details, every high school you attended from Grade 9, and your program choices, with a few program-specific questions for some. You do not type in your Ontario grades. For Fall 2027 the base fee is $159, which covers three program choices, and each extra choice is $51. Some programs charge their own fee on top, and fees are not refundable. You pay through Flywire at the Review and Payment step, and OUAC doesn't send your application to any university until it's paid in full.
Step 4: Submit by January 15, 2027
January 15, 2027 is the deadline for Group A applicants. Apply by then and every university considers you alongside everyone else. OUAC still processes later applications, but each university then sets its own cutoff and some programs close. Many students submit in November or December so the early offer rounds see their marks. You can add or withdraw choices after you submit, but adding a choice may cost a fee, and the later you change, the more likely a program has closed.
What happens to your grades
Your high school sends your grades to OUAC, and OUAC matches them to your application and passes them to each university. They keep updating as your school posts new marks, with OUAC's target dates in late November, mid-February, early May and mid-July. Grades may not show until mid-November. Log in a day or two after you submit and check your courses and marks carefully. If something is wrong, tell your guidance counsellor, because the school fixes it, not OUAC.
After you apply: check every portal
Each university acknowledges your application and tells you which supporting documents it needs, usually with a login for its own applicant portal. This is the step students miss most. The portal is where the university asks for supplementary forms, essays, portfolios, interviews and documents, often with their own deadlines in January and February. If you hear nothing from a university after two to three weeks, contact it with your OUAC reference number. Residence and scholarship applications also go through each university, not OUAC.
Offers and the June 1 date
Universities make offers at different times through the year. If you're in Group A and applied by January 15, every university should give you an answer by May 28, 2027, and none can require you to accept an offer or pay a deposit before June 1, 2027. You accept or decline offers by logging in to your OUAC application, and accepting costs nothing. You can hold only one accepted offer at a time, so cancel the old one first if you change your mind. A residence deposit doesn't count as accepting.
Key Takeaways
- For Fall 2027, OUAC's Undergraduate application replaces 101 and 105. Most Ontario Grade 12 students are Group A.
- You make your own OUAC account and add your OEN. You can choose at most three programs at any one university.
- The fee is $159 for three choices plus $51 for each extra one. Group A's deadline is January 15, 2027.
- Your school sends your grades. Check them after you apply, and log into every university's portal for supplementary deadlines.
- You'll hear back by May 28 and can't be made to accept an offer before June 1, 2027.
Use It Now
- Every Fall 2027 deadline – OUAC, direct entry and each supplementary form, soonest first
- Best 6 calculator – Check your average against each program before you choose
- Compare programs – Admission averages and prerequisites for 526 programs