Graduation and Convocation

Eligibility

Students must:

• successfully complete all courses and program requirements for graduation; 
• submit an Application to Graduate (by the deadline date) during their graduating semester or year;
• and ensure that any minor or concentration has been added to their record prior to graduation. (Minors and concentrations cannot be added after graduation). 

Students can only apply to graduate from programs in which they are active. Students may file an Application to Graduate even when they have an account hold for unpaid fees or debts. If eligible, students will still be able to graduate and attend Convocation ceremonies. (Please see Grade and Transcript Withholds for more information.)

Final Cumulative Grade Point Average

On graduating, a student's program Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is final. Students cannot upgrade their program CGPA after graduation.

Application

Students enrolled in their final course, year or semester of their program must apply to graduate within the applicable dates. See Significant Dates section of this calendar.

Students apply to graduate online at: my.ryerson.ca (opens in new window)  (RAMSS). Detailed instructions are on the How to Apply to Graduate (opens in new window)  support page.

Students can confirm that Ryerson has received their application by checking "View my Graduation Status" in RAMSS. (See Tracking your Application to Graduate Status (opens in new window) .)

There is no fee to file an Application to Graduate by the deadline date. There is non-refundable late fee of $50 to file an Application to Graduate during the late period. See Significant Dates section of this calendar.

RYERSON WILL NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS TO GRADUATE AFTER THE FINAL DEADLINE.

Cancellation of an Application to Graduate

Students may cancel their application to graduate by going to their RAMSS eForms centre and submitting an App to Grad - Cancellation Form before the deadline date. (See Significant Dates). If the student does not cancel their Application to Graduate before the deadline, the assessment and approval for graduation will proceed;  Ryerson will then award the degree or certificate.

Minors and Concentrations

To graduate with a minor or concentration, students must complete the requirements for their major(s), minor(s), and/or concentrations concurrently. Students who wish to declare a minor do so as part of their Application to Graduate. (See "How to Select a Minor (opens in new window) ".)  Students can declare a concentration prior to applying to graduate. 

Students who are eligible to graduate from a degree program but are ineligible for their chosen minor(s) and/or concentration(s) will still graduate with the degree unless they cancel the application to graduate.

Ryerson does not print minors or concentrations on the graduation award document. Minors and concentrations are recorded on the official transcript only.

Graduation Document Reissue

Graduates who wish to have their original graduation document reissued (opens in new window)  should complete a Graduation Document Reissue Application form. The fee for replacement of the graduation document is $70 (subject to change).

To be eligible for their program’s graduation award, as authorized by Senate  (PDF file) Policy 46 (opens in new window) , students must apply to graduate, and satisfy the following academic requirements:

1. Be admitted to and have an active status in a program;
2. Successfully complete, by earning at least a minimum passing grade of D- (or other satisfactory non-graded performance designation) in each course, all courses of the program's curriculum. as required for graduation within the allowable assigned timespan for completion. Some programs may require higher grades in certain courses, as stated in their Academic Standing Variations or Graduation Requirement Variations.
3.  Fulfill all program requirements for graduation within the allowable time span for undergraduate program completion. This time span is calculated from the time of first admission to a program as follows:
   a) full-time degree programs: the maximum timespan is normally 8 (eight) years, calculated as the number of years of curriculum outlined in the undergraduate calendar multiplied by 2 (two). In the case of co-op programs requiring an additional year of program registration, 1 (one) additional year is added to the normal timespan.
   b) part-time degree programs: the maximum timespan is normally 14 (fourteen) years, calculated as the number of required single-term courses (or equivalent) divided by 3 (three). Students should be aware that they continue to use up their time span even though they may not be in attendance for one or more semesters.
4. Achieve a CGPA of 1.67 or higher while registered in the degree program. Some programs may have a different standard as detailed in their Academic Standing Variations or Graduation Requirement Variations.
   
5.  Complete at least half of the program course requirements through the completion of Ryerson courses while registered in the Ryerson program for which the award is sought. Ryerson courses taken before admission to the program may be subject to further evaluation before applying to current degree requirements.

To be eligible for graduation with a Chang School certificate the following requirements must apply to graduate, and satisfy the following academic requirements: 

1. Complete a minimum of 50 percent of the certificate’s curriculum course requirements while registered in that certificate program. Students should be aware that some certificates may not be pursued in combination with certain degree programs.
2. Achievement of a cumulative grade point average of 1.67 or higher
3. Complete at least 50 percent of all certificate courses via Chang School course enrolments.
4. Complete all requirements of the certificate within a timespan calculated from the original registration in the certificate program as the number of required single-term courses (or equivalent) divided by 2 (two), plus one year.
   

Besides fulfilling the university-wide graduation requirements listed above, students in the following programs must fulfill added requirements to be eligible to graduate:

• Child and Youth Care
• Midwifery
• Nursing - Collaborative and Post-Diploma Programs
• Social Work

For details about these Graduation Requirement Variations, students should refer to the associated program sections of this calendar.

Students graduating from an undergraduate degree program with an overall cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher will graduate "With Distinction" and will have this academic distinction recorded on their transcript and graduation award.

Given changes to Ryerson program curriculum from year to year, out-of-phase students who are still within their allotted time span, may not be subject to the curriculum requirements presented in the CURRENT Calendar.

Students must complete the curriculum for the years they attended from first approval, unless otherwise directed by the Office of the Registrar and/or their program director/chair.

For example, full-time students first approved to 1st Year in Fall 2022, will follow a pattern like this:

Part-time program students, including certificate students, will normally follow the curriculum as published in the calendar of the year of their first admission.

Students must ensure that they meet all other graduation requirements.

Ryerson may consider students who have exceeded their time span for re-admission into the current curriculum. The university will base the decision to re-admit on determinants including, but not limited to:

• Major curricular change within a program
• Degree designation change (ex, from a Bachelor of Arts to a Bachelor of Commerce)
• Number and availability of courses that remain to be completed from the original program

Approval to graduate by Ryerson Senate is followed by an invitation to attend the Convocation Ceremony, where the graduation award is conferred. Ryerson graduates students and hosts convocation ceremonies twice a year; in the spring (typically early to mid-June) and in the fall (typically late October).

Complete details including ceremony dates, tickets, receptions and guest information are available on the Convocation Office website (opens in new window) .

Graduation award documents will be distributed to students who attend their convocation ceremony. Students who do not attend the ceremony may pick-up their document on campus or arrange to have it couriered. Complete details can be found on the  (opens in new window) Curriculum Advising website (opens in new window) .

Please note that all outstanding fees owed to the University must be cleared in order to receive an award document (whether students attend Convocation or graduates in absentia). See Grade and Transcript Withholds in Tuition, Fees and Policies.

All outstanding fees owed to the University must be cleared in order to receive an award document. See Grade and Transcript Withholds in Tuition, Fees and Policies.

A graduation award document is an official university-issued document. Only one original award document may exist and it must reflect the student's correct personal legal/official name.

All reissued award documents will be produced using current Toronto Metropolitan University graphics, printing standards and signatures. Graduates from Ryerson Polytechnic University, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute or Ryerson Institute of Technology will also have their graduation award document reissued under the name of Ryerson University.

The application form for Graduation Award Document Reissue is available on-line in the  (opens in new window) Office of the Registrar's Forms for Students page. (opens in new window)