Faculty of Nursing introduces new admission process for BScN program

The University of Calgary is changing its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) admissions process to attract more candidates committed to becoming nurses and building long careers.

According to the Canadian Nurses’ Association, 37-57 per cent of new nurses leave the profession within the first two years of practice. Nursing admission is highly competitive at UCalgary where demand has driven the admitting average over 90 per cent. It is a highly coveted degree, sometimes used as a pathway to other professions. However, given the demand for nurses to stay in the field, the faculty is implementing a new approach to selecting qualified students for the program.

Effective for the Fall 2026 semester, the Faculty of Nursing will move to a lottery admission process where students with an overall average of 82 per cent and above, in the required pre-requisite courses, will be entered into the nursing admission lottery. A computerized system will randomly select applicants at various times in the admission cycle until all seats are filled.

This is a data-informed decision based on an analysis showing that first-year students who achieve 82 per cent or higher have an increased likelihood of first-year success. First-year success is a strong indicator of overall degree completion. 

“Expanding the admission criteria will open the degree to more qualified, excellent applicants who may currently be self-selecting out given the unnecessarily high admission average we currently have,” says Dr. Catherine Laing, PhD, interim dean, Faculty of Nursing.

All applicants are still required to meet the same rigorous academic standards in place at UCalgary. Students must meet the required courses and competitive admissions averages for admissions.

“The goal is to attract students who want to be nurses and will stay in the nursing profession, and we want to take some of the pressure off high school students focused only on grades,” she says. “Theoretical and clinical knowledge should be held in equal esteem in a practice profession like nursing and it really starts with the kind of student we admit.”

A successful nurse is resilient, caring, compassionate, empathetic and intelligent, and grades are not the only indicator of those qualities. This new admissions process will help alleviate the stress and pressure on prospective students to achieve near-perfect grades allowing them to also prioritize extra-curriculars, volunteering and work-life balance, contributing to overall mental health and well-being. 

“UCalgary is committed to our role in providing highly qualified graduates for Alberta’s work force,” says Dr. Sandra Davidson, Phd, Provost, UCalgary. “We have a nursing shortage in Alberta and UCalgary is addressing this critical social need with a proactive, upstream solution.”

This admissions approach has been implemented in several schools and universities around the world, including the US, UK, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey. Just this year, Queen’s University instituted a version of a lottery admission system in their MD program to select candidates for interviews. 

A longitudinal research study will be conducted alongside this admission change looking at variables like student satisfaction, graduation and employment rates, and two-year attrition from the profession. Based on findings, evidence-informed adjustments to the process may be made.

The Faculty of Nursing is the only faculty that will be implementing this process at the University of Calgary.