How to Get Into U of T From Mexico: Grades, English, Video

What U of T looks at from a Mexican applicant

U of T’s high school requirements by country lists Mexico with the minimum admission requirement “Bachillerato”. No entrance exam is named for Mexico, so the EXANI, COMIPEMS or a Mexican university’s own examen de admisión do not enter the file. The credential is your SEP certificado de bachillerato, whether from a state preparatoria, UNAM’s ENP or CCH, Tec de Monterrey’s prepa or a private bilingual school. The page adds that every applicant “must also meet our English language requirements and any prerequisites for their chosen program area”.

Documents are where Toronto differs from Vancouver. U of T’s required documents page says: “If your documents are in a language other than English or French, you will also need to provide notarized translations.” Engineering’s out-of-country page spells it out for Mexico: “original and notarized English-translated copies” of secondary school transcripts “showing all years of study including current interim results”. So for Toronto you do want a perito traductor and a notario; the same notarized copy that UBC refuses is what U of T asks for.

The grades that get offers

U of T does not publish a minimum average for the Bachillerato, and does not publish competitive ranges by program for Mexican applicants. What it publishes is the prerequisite list per program area. For a Mexican file that means two things carry the decision: the yearly average on the 10-point scale (or the 100-point scale some private schools use) across the last two years, and the marks in the named subjects. Where an offer lands on the 10-point scale is not published, and U of T does not confirm any threshold for Mexico; the honest orientation is that Arts and Science is decided nearer the floor and Engineering, Computer Science and Rotman among the strongest files, so check each program page rather than a rumoured number.

Calculus is the word to check. Many Mexican prepas teach Cálculo Diferencial and Cálculo Integral in fifth and sixth semester on the physics-math track and not at all on the humanities track; an ENP student in área III or IV may have no calculus on the transcript.

English: a bilingual school does not exempt the Bachillerato

U of T’s English language requirements exempt applicants with four or more years of full-time study at an English-language school in a country where English is the dominant language, and list those countries. Mexico is not on it, so schooling in English in Monterrey or Mexico City does not exempt you by itself. Two routes do: a score of 4 or better in IB English, or a B (6 in the reformed grade) in IGCSE English, if your school offers either. Otherwise the tests as published: IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with no band under 6.0; TOEFL iBT on the new scale (tests from January 21, 2026) 4.5 overall with Writing 4.5 and Speaking 4.0; Duolingo English Test 120 overall with 120 in production; CAEL 70 with no part under 60; PTE Academic 65 with no part under 60; Cambridge C1 or C2 at 180 with each component at 170 or better. The result must arrive by your document deadline, which for Arts and Science is February 1 and for Engineering January 15.

How and when to apply for Fall 2027

U of T’s international students page says you apply the same way Canadians do: first through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre, then in the Join U of T portal for documents and forms. From Mexico that is the OUAC 105 application. The OUAC 105 walkthrough is written for students in British Columbia but the form is the same one you will fill in. The U of T dates and deadlines page for Fall 2027 lists: November 7 as the recommended early application date; January 15 as the application deadline for most programs; December 1 for documents if you want early consideration; document deadlines of January 15 for Engineering and Music and February 1 for Arts and Science, Architecture, Kinesiology, UTM and UTSC; supplemental deadlines of January 15 for the Engineering Student Profile and February 1 for Rotman Commerce, Computer Science, Kinesiology and UTSC; decisions from January to late May. Confirm every date on the page before you plan around it.

The part you control: the supplementals

Arts and Science, the largest faculty, has none; your file there is grades and English, full stop. The programs that add something:

• Rotman Commerce. Rotman’s supplemental page describes “short written and video responses” completed in Join U of T, with early consideration on December 1, 2026 and a final deadline of February 1, 2027. The Rotman supplemental questions guide covers the timed shape and the written prompts.
• Engineering. The Engineering Supplemental Application is mandatory (“If you do not submit your Engineering Supplemental Application, your application will not be considered”), includes three timed video responses, an optional personal statement and, for international applicants, an optional financial section for scholarships; recommended by December 1, with a C$67.32 fee. The Engineering Online Student Profile guide gives worked answers.
• Computer Science, Trinity College, UTSC Management. Each adds a short written piece; the Trinity College applicant profile guide and the UTSC Management supplementary guide cover the two that ask most.

The video is the piece Mexican applicants underestimate: English, alone, on a timer. U of T does not publish the questions. They are the kind that ask you to describe yourself, a problem you solved, or why this program, with a short prep window and roughly a minute to speak. AcceptMe puts you on camera with a fresh question, 30 seconds to think, 90 seconds to answer, then a transcript with the coach’s notes, so you learn in November, not in Join U of T, that your introduction eats 40 seconds. The video answer length guide is worth reading first.

Money: tuition, fees and scholarships

U of T finalises each year’s fees in the spring; the published schedules are for 2025-26, on the Registrar’s fee schedules. The Arts and Science international program fee for a first-year student is C$63,570.00, with incidental fees of about C$2,209 and C$792 for UHIP health insurance, for a total near C$66,571. Applied Science and Engineering is C$70,060.00 tuition and C$73,055.84 total. Expect 2026-27 and 2027-28 schedules to replace these; IRCC’s C$23,448 living-expense figure is a floor, not a Toronto budget.

On aid, U of T’s international financial aid page is blunt: scholarships for international students are “highly competitive and most do not cover the full cost of tuition” and “the university is not able to offer direct financial aid to international students”. All admitted applicants are considered automatically for admission awards. The one full ride is the Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship: tuition, books, incidental fees and residence for four years, about 37 scholars a year, and it runs early. Your school nominates one student by October 9, 2026; you must have applied to U of T by October 16, 2026 and submit the scholarship application by November 6, 2026. No Mexico-specific U of T award exists; FUNED lends for master’s degrees only, and Canada’s ELAP program is a four-month exchange for students already at a Mexican university.

The study permit for a Mexican citizen

Since February 29, 2024, most Mexican citizens need a visitor visa; an eTA is only for air travel by someone holding a valid US non-immigrant visa or a Canadian visa from the past ten years, according to IRCC’s notice for Mexican citizens. It also says study permit eligibility did not change and that an approved permit comes with the visa, so you apply once, for the permit. You will need the U of T letter of acceptance, an Ontario Provincial Attestation Letter that U of T requests for you after you accept (the PAL page says to contact your school), passport, biometrics, and proof of funds: IRCC’s financial support page sets living expenses at C$23,448 for one person for applications from September 1, 2026, plus first-year tuition and travel. Fees are C$150 for the permit and C$85 for biometrics. The Student Direct Stream closed on November 8, 2024, so there is no expedited route. The 2026 cap notice gives Ontario 104,780 PAL-required applications; the 2027 number will follow. Apply the week you accept, and check IRCC’s processing-time tool for Mexico that day rather than relying on a figure from last year.

Mistakes applicants from Mexico make

• Uploading Spanish transcripts with a school stamp only. U of T wants notarized English translations. Budget for the perito traductor in the autumn.
• No calculus on the transcript. Computer Science and Engineering name it, and the quantitative programs expect senior math. Choose the track that has Cálculo in the final year.
• Assuming the bilingual prepa waives the English test. Only IB English or IGCSE English does; otherwise book IELTS or TOEFL for October.
• Discovering the Engineering video on December 1. It is mandatory and recommended by then; record practice answers in November.
• Applying in January and hoping for the Pearson. Its admission deadline is October 16, 2026, so the OUAC 105 goes in early October.

Where to go next

The same transcript in Vancouver is read against a published 8/10 floor and a mandatory profile, in the UBC admission guide for Mexican applicants. In Montreal there is no profile at all and a CAQ before the permit, in the McGill admission guide for Mexican applicants. For the video itself, the video interview practice guide sets out a two-week routine, and the by-country guide to Canadian university admissions for international applicants puts Mexico beside the other fourteen largest sending countries. Then get on camera with AcceptMe before Join U of T does it for real.