Dalhousie University International Entrance Awards

Most international applicants are automatically considered for general entrance scholarships through Dalhousie's General Entrance Award application, which factors in academic achievement, leadership, extracurricular involvement, community service, financial need, and cultural identity rather than academics alone, giving a more holistic route to funding than a pure GPA cutoff.

A flagship award available to eligible international students is the Sankofa Scholarship, worth CAD 48,000 total (CAD 12,000 per year, renewable across four years) for an international student of Black/African descent from the Caribbean, alongside numerous other named entrance scholarships tied to specific faculties, high schools, or student profiles.

The general academic threshold for competitive entrance scholarship consideration is typically an 80% average or roughly 26 predicted/anticipated IB points, calculated from five program-required courses, making Dalhousie accessible to strong but not necessarily top-1% international applicants compared to more selective institutions.

Located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dalhousie offers a notably lower cost of living than Toronto or Vancouver, which combined with its entrance award program makes it a practical option for internationally mobile students seeking both quality education and manageable total costs.