The MEng program may be pursued via three different delivery options. Students select their delivery option at the time of admission.
Students may choose to start the MEng program in either September or January. Students select their start date at the time of admission; all delivery options are available to both September and January starters.
MEng students must graduate upon the completion of the degree requirements. Students cannot stay on to take additional courses after they have met the degree requirements.
Full-time Option
- No maximum course load.
- The full-time option is designed to be completed in 12 months.
- To maintain a manageable workload, the vast majority of full-time students spread their courses over the Fall, Winter, and Summer Sessions. For important information about the Summer Session, please review the information at the bottom of this page; it is highly recommended that full-time students complete all of their required technical courses over the Fall and Winter Sessions.
- Program fees for the MEng program are per year. If a full-time student has not completed the program by the 12-month mark then they will need to register again and pay fees. Full-time students who complete the program in 16 months will have ultimately paid 1.5 times the annual program fee.
- Students may take a maximum of three years to complete the program.
- Students who start in the full-time option can transfer to the part-time option, but only at the beginning of their second session.
- Students who start in the full-time option cannot transfer to the extended full-time option.
Extended Full-time Option
- The extended full-time option is designed to be completed over 20 or 24 months.
- Maximum course load is three per session, six per year; the minimum amount of time required to complete the extended full-time option is 16 months.
- Program fees for the MEng program are per year. If an extended full-time student has not completed the program by the 24-month mark then they will need to register again and pay fees.
- Please note that the minimum degree fee for the MEng program is equivalent to one year of program fees for the full-time delivery option. Students in the part-time or extended full-time delivery option, who complete their program before paying the minimum degree fee, will be charged a balance of degree fee upon complete of their program. The balance of degree fee is calculated by subtracting the program fees already paid by the student from the minimum degree fee.
- Students may take a maximum of three years to complete the program.
- Students who start in the extended full-time option cannot transfer to either the full-time or the part-time option.
Part-time Option
- The part-time option is designed to be completed over 3 years.
- Maximum course load is two per session, four per year; the minimum amount of time required to complete the part-time option is 28 months.
- Program fees for the MEng program are per year.
- Please note that the minimum degree fee for the MEng program is equivalent to one year of program fees for a full-time student; part-time students who complete the program having paid less than the minimum degree fee will be charged a balance of degree fee upon completion of the program. The balance of degree fee is calculated by subtracting the total program fees paid by the student from the minimum degree fee.
- Students may take a maximum of six years to complete the program.
- Students who start in the part-time option can later transfer to the full-time option; however, once they have transferred to full-time they cannot transfer back to part-time.
- Students who start in the part-time option cannot transfer to the extended full-time option.
- International students cannot choose the part-time option unless they have non-student legal status in Canada (e.g. a work permit).
Summer Session
The academic year is comprised of three sessions: Fall, Winter, and Summer. The Fall session runs from September through December; the Winter session runs from January through April; the Summer session runs from May through August. ECE offers graduate courses primarily in the Fall and Winter sessions.
MEng students are not required to enrol in courses during the Summer session. However, students who would like to enrol in one or more courses may do so at no additional charge provided they have been (1) registered as a full-time or extended full-time student in either the preceding Fall or Winter Session; or (2) registered as a part-time student in both the preceding Fall and Winter sessions.
Graduate courses are not typically offered by the ECE Department in the Summer session. However, a selection of ELITE and Analytics courses will be offered by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, in addition to technical courses that may be offered by other departments. Students are also welcome to start or continue an ECE2500Y project over the summer if they can find and secure a supervisor.
Course enrollment typically begins in early April – registered students will receive an email in March with detailed instructions.
Please note that if a student is not enrolled in at least one academic activity (i.e., a course or a project) in a given session, they will not be considered as a registered student during that session.
Program Completion
Students in the MEng program must graduate once all degree requirements have been completed, and are required to notify the ECE Graduate Office in advance of completing their final requirements by submitting the MEng Program Completion form. The form is circulated to students via email approximately halfway through each session.
The session in which you finish your degree requirements will determine your convocation date.
- Students who complete their MEng degree requirements in the Fall session will graduate in the June Convocation unless they indicate a preference to graduate in March in absentia (i.e. without ceremony).
- Students who choose to graduate in March in absentia (i.e. without ceremony) will not be able to subsequently participate in a convocation ceremony.
- Students who complete their MEng degree requirements in the Winter session will graduate in the June Convocation.
- Students who complete their MEng degree requirements in the Summer session will graduate in the November Convocation.