Applying to the Computing and Financial Management (CFM) program puts you among top bright and talented students from around the world. Let us help you understand what you need for your application to be competitive. Find out more about our minimum requirements to apply!
Ontario admission requirements
Ontario students: six Grade 12 U and/or M courses including
- Any Grade 12 U English (minimum final grade of 75% is required)
- Advanced Functions
- Calculus and Vectors
- One other Grade 12 U course
Recommended: Introduction to Computer Science, Principles of Financial Accounting
Admission averages: Individual selection from the low to mid-90s
Once you've applied, you'll need to complete the Admission Information Form as part of the application process.
We strongly encourage you to participate in the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest and/or the Euclid Mathematics Contest to enhance your admissions status. To be considered for entrance scholarships in the Faculty of Mathematics, you must write one or both of the contests. If you complete both contests, we'll use the results of the contest in which you performed best.
Canadian provincial and international admissions
Not applying from Ontario? Find your admission requirements.
Application deadlines
Applications and supporting documents, including AIF, for fall 2026 admissions must be submitted by the deadlines.
- Apply by: January 30, 2026
- Submit documents: February 13, 2026
These deadlines are the same for all other Faculty of Mathematics programs (including Honours Mathematics and Computer Science). Other programs may have different deadlines.
Admissions Information Form (AIF)
Once we have received your application, you'll be asked to complete an Admissions Information Form (AIF). An AIF is required for your application. If you do not submit an AIF with your grades, you will not be considered for admission to CFM.
The purpose of the AIF is to tell us about yourself including your extra-curricular involvement, part-time work, volunteer experience, awards and certificates, clubs and associations, sports and more. We want to know what makes you different from our other applicants. This is also your opportunity to disclose any information around repeated, online or summer school courses.
The scoring of the AIF is a Waterloo secret that is not shared out with applicants. We simply ask that you tell us what we should know about you!
Repeated courses and non-day school courses
If you repeat any required Grade 12 course or take any required Grade 12 course outside of your regular day school, you may jeopardize your chances of being admitted.
You should take all your courses in your regular day school and do well in your first attempt. As you complete the required Admission Information Form, you'll be asked to explain why you repeated any courses or took courses outside of your regular day school. We may verify this information before we make an admission decision. We'll send instructions about the next steps once you've applied.
We will accept grades from schools that are accredited by your provincial or territorial ministry of education.
If you take one or two spares, that will not impact your chances of being admitted to any of our programs at Waterloo.
English language requirements
If English is not your first language and your four most recent years of full-time education have not been in an English-speaking school, you will be required to submit an English language score with your application. Find out which English language tests and programs are accepted for admissions.
Math and computing competitions
The Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo has a long history of exciting high school students and teachers with the study of math through its Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC). In addition to providing in-class learning and outreach, the CEMC offers mathematical contests to test students, up to grade 12, on their mathematical problem-solving ability.
Like our CEMC math contests, our CFM program aims to teach our students to become problem solvers. As we want to ensure that we're selecting the best students to participate in our learnings, we highly encourage you to participate in one, or all, of our grade 12 math and computing contests below to show us how you can succeed as a problem solver. The results of your contests may be used in either your AIF, application average, scholarship consideration or all of the above.
- Contests are open to both Canadian and international students.
- Registration dates close roughly two weeks before the contest opens - make sure to register early.
- Contact your high school Math department if you'd like to participate.
- Contest preparation workbooks are available for purchase through the CEMC. Check online for our free past contest problems for you to practice.
- You can write any of the contests above as early as you like but only contests written in grade 12 will qualify for admissions and scholarship consideration.
| Contest | Purpose | Deadline to apply | Contest dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) |
|
February 12, 2026 | February 18/19, 2026 |
| Canadian Senior and Intermediate Mathematics Contest (CSMC) |
|
October 16, 2025 | November 12/13, 2025 |
| March 5, 2026 | March 31/ April 1, 2026 |
How to apply
If you plan to be a full-time student, you'll apply to Waterloo through the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC).
Transfer students
If you have completed a post-secondary degree or are working toward completing a degree at another college or university, you will not be eligible to apply given the structured nature of the program.
Offers of admission
While CFM is part of both the Faculty of Mathematics and the Faculty of Arts, our admissions decisions are managed by the Faculty of Mathematics.
You can expect to follow the same application deadlines as other mathematics and computer science programs. The Faculty of Mathematics will make most of its admissions decisions in May.
Questions?
For information on admission requirements and how to apply to Computing and Financial Management, reach out to Heather Shaw, Program Manager.