About Master’s Program,
Welcome to Political Science at the University of Waterloo, Canada’s most innovative university. Our department is one of the top-ranked departments of political science of its size in Canada. Our faculty have been nationally and internationally recognized through numerous prestigious awards including Fulbright, Killam and Trudeau fellowships. Many of our faculty have won distinguished scholar and publication awards from leading professional associations including the International Studies Association, the Canadian Political Science Association, the Western Historical Association, and the Canadian Anthropology Society. As of 2022, seven of our faculty members have won awards for excellence in research, teaching, or service from the University.
As a medium-sized department, Political Science has several advantages. We are large enough that we have substantial expertise in all the major fields of Canadian Politics; Comparative Politics; International Relations and Global Politics; Political Theory; and Public Policy and Administration. Yet, we are small enough that our students can maintain close contact with their professors and with one another. With more than four out of five of all undergraduate courses and all regular-term first-year courses taught by full-time faculty, students can develop long-term learning relationships with their professors as they proceed through their chosen program from introductory to senior-level courses. The faculty are strongly committed to their students’ success.
Our department also provides exciting opportunities for understanding the real world of politics. As one of three experiential learning pathways, our ‘engagement pathway’ gives students exciting opportunities to fulfil their Political Science degree by participating in international exchanges, international field courses, research assistantships, or undertaking community placements as volunteers, among other options. Students in work-integrated learning can opt for the university’s world-renowned co-op program either as Honours Political Science majors or as double majors in Honours Political Science and Business.
At the graduate level, we offer an MA and a PhD in Political Science (with a co-op options), and the Master of Public Service. Our faculty also make enormous contributions as faculty and supervisors in the MA and PhD in Global Governance which is housed at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
All of students are encouraged to make connections between theory and practice, to develop important writing, research, and presentation skills, and to excel as critical thinkers and engaged members of their communities. Given our department’s student-centred programming and our strong commitment to community engagement and skills-building, it perhaps not surprising that so many of our alumni from the private, public, and non-profit sector get noticed, including as Faculty of Arts Young Alumni Award winners!
The Department of Political Science acknowledges that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Read the University of Waterloo’s Territorial Acknowledgement
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The MPS program considers applicants from most disciplines with the following minimum requirements:
Successful completion of an Honours Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
An overall average of at least 75% (B) in the final two years of study
Your average will be calculated based on your most recent 20 courses or most recent two years of full-time coursework.
Proof of English language proficiency (if applicable)
French proficiency and evidence of strong math skills are not required for admission.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
Typical base funding package for Political Science master’s students :
Term one: combination of paid teaching or research assistantship
Term two: combination of paid teaching or research assistantship
Term three: Graduate Scholarship
Total: $18,000.00 (as of Fall 2022)
Please note funding is contingent on academic standing in the program
Students may also receive various scholarships in each term of study in addition to their base funding package (as they are elgible).
Students must have an overall minimum average of 80.0% in their final two years (or final 20 courses) of undergraduate study to be eligible for the funding packages noted above. Students are automatically considered for these awards when they apply to the graduate program in Political Science at the University of Waterloo.
Master’s students are eligible for more funding by:
Taking on additional teaching assistantships in their third term of study. This income will be in addition to their funding packages but will depend on class enrolments, previous teaching assistant (TA) performance and academic standing.
Taking on additional research assistantships in their third term of study. This income will be in addition to their funding packages but will depend on area of research, funds available by professors and academic standing.
Typical Political Science MA funding packages are not available to students who hold external awards. Students holding Ontario Graduate Scholarship or Tri-Council awards will be given the President’s Graduate Scholarship in addition to their external awards.
Application Requirement,
Understand the types of admission
Understand the admission and English language proficiency requirements
Understand your application document requirements
If a personal statement or letter of intent is required by your program (which you will see once you begin the application), review the writing your personal statement resources for helpful tips and tricks on completion
Learn more about your program. Do you need to find a supervisor in advance?
Contact your referees
The University of Waterloo is committed to ensuring you can access, and meaningfully participate in, your education. At any point in the application process, or when you are a registered student, we encourage you to reach out to AccessAbility Services for advice, information, and support. Request for disability-based graduate admission accommodation (on the AccessAbility website).
Application Deadline,
Feb 01, 2025
Application Fee,
Pay the non-refundable application fee of $125 CAD per program.
