Lottery Admissions Process
Effective Fall 2026, the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary is implementing a lottery admission process for its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program
The nursing landscape
Nursing programs across North America are in high demand and significantly oversubscribed, resulting in high admission averages which excludes many qualified students from applying.
Nurses are essential to a safe and sustainable health-care system. We are facing a global nursing shortage, which impacts not just students entering the profession but our communities overall.
According to Statistics Canada, registered nurse (RN) vacancies in Alberta doubled from 2018 to 2022. Additionally, the Canadian Nurses’ Association (2021) reported that over 50% of new nurses leave the profession within two years of entering practice.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (2022) projects that the country will be short more than 117,000 nurses by 2030.
Why are we doing this?
As an entrepreneurial university, we are leading the way with a bold, proactive, upstream solution to a social need. We are facing a nursing shortage in health care and need more nurses and new grads to stay in the profession.
Nursing at the University of Calgary is a highly competitive faculty to gain admittance to and demand has driven up admission averages.
This new admission process creates more opportunities for students who could not have otherwise considered Nursing.
This change can help alleviate the stress and pressure on prospective students to achieve near-perfect grades.
Choose UCalgary Podcast - Bachelor of Science in Nursing Changes
Season 9 Episode 16: In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Catherine Laing, BPE, RN, PhD, Interim Dean of UCalgary Nursing, for an insightful conversation about upcoming changes to the admission process for the Faculty of Nursing’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program, starting with the Fall 2026 intake. Dr. Laing also shares her perspective on what makes UCalgary’s nursing program stand out and why students should consider it for their nursing education.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
This was a data-informed decision based on analysis of incoming student average to first-year student GPA showed that students with an 82% incoming average show an increased likelihood of first-year success. Success in the first year is a strong indicator of overall completion.
The concept of lottery admissions isn’t new and untested. This year, Queen’s University brought it in for its MD program to select candidates for interviews.
Post-secondary institutions in Canada, the United States and UK, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey have used it to ease oversubscription in schools and universities.
We published a research paper in Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly that explores this approach to admissions and recognize that this isn’t a perfect process, but the status quo is no longer an option.
Student nurses need hands-on clinical experience to practice and learn before they enter the workforce. We are limited by the number of placements we can provide through our practice partners in the health-care system but we’re open to working with our partners to constantly improve this.
The Targeted Enrollment Expansion through the Alberta government added more seats, but they were mostly in our rural and Indigenous locations. Demand for seats remains strong.
UCalgary Nursing introduces new admission process for BScN program
Read about the new admission process for UCalgary’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) to expand range of candidates for program
UCalgary nursing faculty to use lottery system for admissions in 2026. Read the Calgary Herald Article
Research
The University of Calgary is a research-intensive university and at nursing, we value making decisions informed by research when introducing new practices for our faculty.
We’ve developed a rigorous measurement plan to study this admission change examining data such as student satisfaction, graduation and employment rates, attrition from profession etc. Based on what we learn, we may make evidence-informed adjustments to the process.
Further reading
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. (2022, January). Canadian nursing shortage at a glance.
Laing, C. M., Davidson, S., & MacKay, C. (2022). A lottery-based admissions process for Faculties of Nursing: An idea whose time has come. Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly, 10(2), 3-9.
Sanzone, L., D’Aquila, V., & Fukamizu, S. (2021, October 18). Stemming the tide of nursing attrition: Developing resilience via a peer mentorship program. Canadian Nurse.