Transcript FAQs

Unofficial transcripts are required for an admission evaluation and are to be uploaded in your Student Centre. Unofficial transcripts are required from every institution attended, regardless of whether the degree was completed. This includes any short-term enrolment, courses taken for upgrading or transfer credit.

Unless your program instructs otherwise, please do not request official transcripts to be sent from the post-secondary institutions you have attended at the time of application.

Most programs accept unofficial transcripts at the time of application. These can be scans of paper transcripts or a PDF of your academic record. Examples of accepted unofficial transcripts can be found below. Some programs require official transcripts at the time of application. All programs require official transcripts if an offer is made. If you are not sure if your program requires official transcripts at the time of admission, please contact your program directly.

Log in to your Student Centre and review the required documents specific to your application. Instructions on how to upload unofficial transcripts are available on our website.

For uploaded documents to be used for admission evaluation they must include:

• your full name
• the full name of the institution attended
• dates of attendance
• all courses and credit hours taken (including transfer credit (if applicable))
• the date the document was issued
• credential awarded (if applicable) or degree certificate

Missing information may delay the processing of your application.

Official and unofficial transcripts, as well as degree certificates, that are not issued in English must be accompanied by a complete and literal English translation completed by a certified translator. The original-language documents must also be provided. Documents issued by Canadian institutions where French is the primary language of instruction are exempt from this requirement. Translations produced in whole or in part using artificial intelligence (AI) tools are not acceptable. For unofficial transcript submissions, the original-language documents and their certified English translations must be submitted together as a single file.

For technical issues with uploading your documents, contact Admissions at gradapp@ucalgary.ca.

Most programs require official transcripts only after an offer of admission has been made. Unless your program instructs you otherwise, do not request official transcripts at the time of application.

After you receive an offer, the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) requires official transcripts from every post-secondary institution you have attended, even if you did not complete a degree, attended for a short period or transferred the courses to another institution or program. You do not need to submit documents from high school or secondary school. 

Official transcripts must be sent directly to FGS. Do not send them to another UCalgary department.

An official transcript must be sent directly from the transcript office of the institution you attended. Depending on the institution, this office may be called the Registrar's Office, Controller of Examinations, Student Records or Admissions Office.

Transcripts sent by students, individual faculty members or other non-authorized staff cannot be accepted as official. Transcripts uploaded to your Student Centre during the application process are also considered unofficial because they were not sent directly to UCalgary by the institution.

Official transcripts can be sent by:

• mail in an official university envelope that is sealed and endorsed by the issuing institution
• email directly from an authorized official or department at the issuing institution
• an approved secure electronic document delivery service

Official transcripts must be sent directly from your institution or an authorized government agency to FGS before the final transcript deadline listed in your admission requirements.

To be considered official, transcripts must be complete and up to date. They must show all completed courses, grades awarded and degrees awarded. Transcripts showing courses that are still in progress are considered incomplete.

Transcripts submitted directly by applicants cannot be accepted as official documents, except for sealed hard-copy transcripts that are hand-delivered to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS). For more information on this, see "Can I deliver my transcripts to UCalgary in person?".

Transcripts sent by email must be sent directly by a verifiable, authorized official or department of the institution that issued the transcript to UCalgary at gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca.

FGS will verify that the sender is authorized to issue the transcript. If the sender's authorization cannot be verified, the transcript will not be accepted as official.

Official transcripts must be sent directly from the issuing institution to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

By email

gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca

• Email attachments must be one of the following file types:
  • JPG, JPEG, GIF or PNG
  • PDF
• Emails with unsupported file types will be rejected.
• If your institution uses an electronic document delivery service that requires an email address, use gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca.

By mail

Faculty of Graduate Studies
MacKimmie Tower, Second Floor
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2N 1N4

If your institution uses a secure electronic document delivery service, select University of Calgary from the vendor's list to make sure your transcript is sent to the correct office.

If the service asks for an email address, use gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca.

UCalgary accepts secure electronic documents from a number of providers, including:

• MyCreds | MesCertif (Canada)
• e-Script-Safe (USA)
• National Student Clearinghouse (USA)
• Parchment (USA and more)
• My eQuals (Australia and New Zealand)
• China Credentials Verification CSSD (China)
• Digitary Core (European and International institutions)
• OpenCerts (Singapore)
• Certpia & iCert (Korea)
• Grad Intelligence (UK)

When sending documents through a digital document provider:

• do not set an expiry date, or make sure the documents remain available for at least six months
• include your UCID in the submission message

Your UCID is provided when you submit your application to a UCalgary graduate program.

Yes. Official transcripts delivered by hand will only be accepted if they are sealed in the original envelope provided by the issuing institution and bear the university seal and signature of the registrar.

When possible, include the student's full name and UCID with the transcript submission.

No. If you are a current or former UCalgary student, your UCalgary transcript will be retrieved electronically by your graduate program.

If your UCalgary degree has not yet been conferred, contact your graduate program once the degree has been awarded.

You do not need to provide a hard copy of your UCalgary transcript. You must still submit official documents from any other post-secondary institutions you have attended.

You must submit your degree certificate if your transcript does not clearly show the date your degree was awarded and/or the type of degree. You must also submit your degree certificate if your transcript is from a country outside Canada or the United States.

No. Copies of transcripts provided by third-party credential evaluation organizations, such as WES or IQAS, are not accepted as official transcripts.

Official transcripts must be sent directly from the institution that issued them.

If you have transcripts from a Chinese institution, you can have them sent directly from your institution. UCalgary also accepts documents from:

• China Higher Education Student Information (CHSI | 学信网)
• Center for Student Services and Development, Ministry of Education, P.R. China (CSSD | 学生发展中心)
• Email: info@chsi@com.cn

If an email recipient is required, enter gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca.

Yes. Official transcripts and degree certificates that are not issued in English must be accompanied by a complete and literal English translation completed by a certified translator. You must also submit the original-language documents.

Documents issued by Canadian institutions where French is the primary language of instruction are exempt from this requirement.

Translations produced in whole or in part using artificial intelligence (AI) tools are not accepted.

Translations must be completed by one of the following:

• the issuing university or college
• an official certified translation service
• a Ministry of Education, consulate or embassy

The translation does not replace the original academic document. It must be submitted in addition to the original document. Students cannot translate their own documents.

If you have questions about submitting translated documents, contact gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca.

If you have not completed your current degree when you apply and receive an offer of admission, contact your graduate program to confirm when your final official transcript and degree certificate will be available. You can find graduate program contact information on our graduate program staff page or by searching for your program on our Explore Programs page. 

All degree requirements must be completed prior to registration. A final transcript showing your degree conferral must be received by Faculty of Graduate Studies as soon as it is available. The transcript should include all courses and grades from your program AND clearly indicate the degree awarded and the date it was awarded.

If the name on your official transcript is different from the name used in your application, provide documentation showing your name change.

Examples include a marriage certificate or notarized name change certificate.

Send copies of your documentation to gradapp@ucalgary.ca.

Yes. You must submit transcripts from every institution where you completed post-secondary coursework.

Even if courses taken at another institution appear on a different institution's transcript, you must submit a transcript from the institution where the courses were originally taken.

If you cannot provide transcripts from both institutions, contact gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca for assistance.

Certified true copies of original documents can be accepted.

Your institution should be able to stamp the copies as certified and true. The institution can then either send them directly to gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca or place them in a sealed envelope for mailing or hand delivery.

If you cannot obtain another copy of your official transcript due to exceptional circumstances, or you have the sole original copy, please contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies at gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca after receiving your offer of admission and before submitting your transcripts.

Application documents submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies become the property of the University of Calgary under section G.A.4 of the Academic Calendar.

If you have the sole existing copy of your transcript or degree certificate, or cannot obtain another copy, contact gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca before submitting the document.

To request the return of another document submitted as part of your admission application, contact the Access and Privacy Office.

Documents submitted that were not required for admission will be destroyed. Students should only submit documents requested by the University and required for admission consideration. Under Retention Rule 98.0018, documents may be confidentially shredded one year after they are scanned into the University's Electronic Data Management System (Synergize).

If you cannot have your official transcripts sent to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for a reason not addressed in these FAQs, contact gradtranscripts@ucalgary.ca for assistance.

This may include situations where:

• your institution does not issue additional copies of transcripts
• obtaining another copy is not possible because of an external circumstance
• your previous institution has closed or is inaccessible
• you currently have the sole original copy of your transcript

Once your documents have been received, it can take up to two weeks for the Faculty of Graduate Studies to process them.

Your graduate program will review your documents and update your To-Do List. This may not happen until closer to the start of your program.

Having official documents listed as outstanding on your To-Do List will not prevent you from accepting your offer or paying your admission deposit, if required. Review your admission letter for information about when your admission conditions need to be met.

If you have questions about the status of your transcripts or To-Do List, contact your graduate program directly or email graduate@ucalgary.ca.

You can find graduate program contact information on our graduate program staff page or by searching for your program on our Explore Programs page.

f your transcripts or other documentation do not meet the Faculty of Graduate Studies' requirements for official documents, our transcripts team or your graduate program will contact you directly.

If you have not been contacted, no action is needed after your documents have been received.

Once your UCalgary email address has been activated, communications about your transcripts and admission will be sent to that address.