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Admissions

Application Process

Begin your journey with the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and build the essential business skills. Apply today to take a decisive step in advancing your career, investing in your future, and preparing for leadership in the business world. Seize this opportunity to make a significant impact—start now.

Application Deadline

Spring 2025 (January)

  • Round 1: September 20, 2024
  • Round 2: October 18, 2024
  • Final Round: November 15, 2024

Summer 2025 (May)

  • Round 1: January 31, 2025
  • Round 2: February 28, 2025
  • Final Round: March 28, 2025

Before the program starts, students must attend a mandatory online orientation over 14 days. During this period, they should expect to spend approximately 10-15 hours completing the various learning activities.

Please remember that we process applications as completed, and admissions and scholarship decisions are made between application deadlines. You do not need to wait for a deadline to apply. The application process is detailed below. Please apply as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed/admitted on an ongoing basis after each application deadline.

If you have any questions during the application process or are unable to apply online, please contact the GDBA office at gdba@sfu.ca.

Review the GDBA admission requirements and gather the documents before the application deadline.

VIEW GDBA REQUIREMENTS

Create an account

In this step, you must create an account within our application system. Once your account is created, you can save your application progress and continue where you left off.

CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT

The application fee is $110 CAD (students with Canadian transcripts) or $150 CAD (students with international transcripts).

It's time to upload your documents to your online application. Once you successfully upload all required documents, your application is complete and will enter the formal review process. Once we receive all application components, we review applications for interview consideration. Candidates will hear back on an interview decision within two weeks of application completion.

If you have questions during the application process or cannot apply online, please email gdba@sfu.ca or contact your Advisor.

Unofficial documents are acceptable for the initial admission review. Official documentation will be requested when an offer of admission is issued.

Apply now and start the online application. Your application remains open for one week while you complete it.

Reference letters
  • You are required to submit two reference letters.
  • The online application form will contain information on your two referees.
  • Once you have submitted your online application, your referees will be automatically emailed requesting them to upload their reference letters.
  • Once the reference letter is submitted, your online checklist is updated.
  • Download the Guide to Writing Reference Letters.
  • You are not entitled to review or submit the letter on behalf of the referee, nor can you request information regarding the content or tone of a reference letter or evaluation.
  • Guidelines for submitting reference letters specify that referees state whether or not the applicant will see the letters.
  • All letters of reference received at the SFU Beedie School of Business, Graduate Programs are confidential and will not be shared with or returned to applicants or referees.
  • Once you complete and submit the online application form, you will receive a link to pay your application fee approximately 48 hours later.
  • To use the online application system, you will need to pay an application fee of $110 CAN (students with Canadian transcripts) or $150 CAN (students with international transcripts) by credit card (MasterCard or Visa).
  • Your application will be cancelled if you do not pay the application fee within 28 days of starting it.
  • Once you have paid the application fee, use the online application system to upload supporting documents for review.
  • Applications are evaluated in the order in which they are completed.
  • It is to your advantage to upload and submit your supporting documents early to avoid application peaks.

Documents to be uploaded online:

Please upload the following supporting documents through the online application system:

  • Resume: A complete resume showing employment, volunteer activities, education and other appropriate information.
  • Transcripts: A copy of your official/unofficial transcript to expedite the evaluation process. Signed and sealed official transcripts must be mailed directly to the Graduate Business program office. See below for details. Please note: If your transcripts are not in English and no translation is provided by the university, you'll need to provide an approved translation. Learn more.
  • Essay: the essay prompts will be available once you begin your application.
  • English proficiency test (if applicable): For those students whose first language is not English and whose previous education has been conducted in a country where English is not the primary language (view a full list of accepted countries), please upload a copy of the score report in PDF format. Please inform the Educational Testing Service so your official score can be forwarded to our office. ETS Code for TOEFL: Department code 01; Institution code 0999. If ETS requires a departmental code, please select the most appropriate choice from this list.
  • The minimum University requirements for test scores are:

    Internet-based TOEFL

    93 with a minimum of 20 in each category. Applicants must achieve the above scores on a single test date to satisfy the requirement. TOEFL MyBest (super-scored) results will not be used.

    Paper-based TOEFL

    580 and TWE 5

    IELTS (academic)

    overall band score of 7.0 of the academic (NOT general) test with a minimum of 6.5 in each section

    CAEL

    overall 70; minimum 60 in each section

    Pearson Academic (PTE)

    overall 65; minimum 60 in each section

    Cambridge English Qualifications

    C1 Advanced - minimum score of 193
    C2 Proficiency - minimum score of 200


    Please note: Candidates below the English Language requirements will be asked to retake the test.

Documents to be delivered:

In addition, please deliver the following supporting document(s) to the following address:

Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Maggie Benston Centre 1100
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada

  • Official Transcripts: Official transcripts for credit courses from the Registrar of each post-secondary institution you attended must be sent directly to the Graduate Business program office. Only one copy is required from each institution. If the transcripts are issued to you, they must be signed and sealed by your post-secondary institution. Learn more.
  • TOEFL or IELTS (if applicable): Please inform the Educational Testing Service to forward your official score report to our office. Code for TOEFL results: Department code 01; Institution code 0999.

Shortlisted candidates are asked to complete an online video interview assessment.

  • Within 7 days of receiving your acceptance letter, a non-refundable deposit of $500 CDN must be submitted.
  • This deposit reserves your seat in the GDBA program and will be applied toward your tuition.
  • Graduate students can pay by credit card through the graduate student online application system or use one of the other methods listed on the page.

If you have any questions during the application process or cannot apply online, please contact the Online MBA office at mba_online@sfu.ca or contact your Online MBA Advisor.


Connect with our team

Our admissions team is more than happy to answer your questions so you know what to expect before, during, and after your program.

Connect Now

My key lessons from the program were learning how to effectively frame and structure a problem or situation, manage a tight schedule, know what to prioritize and how to prioritize it, and identify core problems quickly and addressing them.

Bobbie Dhillon, EMBA

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Planning

G&F Financial Group

The comprehensive simulations provided the greatest learning for me. They helped change my mindset and connect the different areas of learning into a comprehensive view of how an organization runs.

Matthew Grunert, MOT MBA

Sr. Director, Digital Operations & IT

Motorola Solutions

The MSc Finance program gave me the technical foundation that I couldn’t function without. I work with clients in very senior roles, and it’s important to demonstrate your technical knowledge to gain their trust.

Christine Jakshoej Sangha, MScFin

VP of Customer Success - Capital Markets

FINCAD

The immediate impact of the GDBA has been a change in the way I approach my day professionally. I am equipped to make better decisions. My confidence level has been elevated significantly, and I am enjoying a new sense of optimism in my career.

Percival Chang, GDBA

Manager & Investment Funds Advisor

PH&N Investment Services

I always saw myself working beyond clinical pharmacy. I felt that I could also shine on the business side of healthcare. I knew that with my strong clinical training an MBA would help open more doors and give me the mobility I was looking for in my career.

Morenike Akinyemi, FT MBA

Senior Project Manager, Transformation Delivery

Provincial Health Services Authority

The Part-Time MBA was excellent. It gave me exactly what I expected to receive, and I think that is the highest compliment you can pay a program. It met all my expectations and provided a solid grounding in business skills and strategies.

Oliver Zihlmann, PT MBA

Director of Development and Alumni Engagement

UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

The i2I program is perfect for people like me who are deeply involved in science, and who want to look for opportunities in the business world. A program like this opens your mind and teaches you that there is another world of possibilities outside of the lab.

Elena Groppa, i2I

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine

University of British Columbia Biomedical Research Centre

The learners I work with are 95% Indigenous, and I find that they become more interested and retain information more, when we speak and learn from an Indigenous lens. The Indigenous content integrated into the program has been very beneficial to me in terms of how I can incorporate Indigenous information into the curriculum I currently teach.

Wanda Rockthunder, EMBA IBL

Business Instructor, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies

Cree, a citizen of the Muskowekwan First Nation, Saskatchewan

EMBA: Bobbie

MOT MBA: Matthew Grunnert

MSc Fin: Christine

GDBA: Percival

FT MBA: Morenike

PT MBA: Oliver

i2I: Elena

EMBA IBL: Wanda