Undergraduate Information Manual

Process begins: March

The Communications and Events Department will send the request for updates for the upcoming cycle for the Undergraduate Application Guide in March.

CFC steps:

1. The Editor emails the university contacts when the CFC begins. This email includes a link to step-by-step CFC instructions and a CFC Schedule.
2. The university contacts then review their information and send it back to the Editor.
3. When the Editor has input all CFC edits on the user test website, they email the university contacts to ask them to review their application guide text on the user test website, to ensure all edits were applied and to provide any additional minor edits.
4. The Editor emails the university contacts a final time to ask them to sign off on their application guide text on the user test website and to provide any additional minor edits, if needed.

Process begins: April

Supplementary and Program Fees

The OUAC Undergraduate Department will send the request for supplementary and program fee changes for the upcoming cycle in the spring. These fee changes will go live in September.

Transcript Request Fees

The OUAC eTranscripts Department will send the request for transcript request fee changes for the upcoming cycle in the spring. These fee changes will go live in September.

Process begins: July

Program changes for the upcoming cycle are staged using the Program Updates tool available in the OUAC Portal in our test environment (UAT). These program updates will go live in September.

The OUAC Undergraduate Department will email the universities when the Program Updates tool is available in July.

Before July and after go-live in September, direct all changes to university-specific information and programs in the application to: programupdates@ouac.on.ca.

Changes to the application that impact all universities must be approved by the Ontario Universities’ Council on Admissions at either the fall or spring meeting prior to the next cycle.

Process begins: Can occur any time throughout the application cycle.

We recommend that university staff create a test Undergraduate application at any time during the cycle to familiarize themselves with the application.

During the summer, we encourage universities to perform end-to-end tests that include entering applications and following the data through to the distribution stage to ensure accuracy. After you submit test applications, email Lois Ferguson and Kim Logan to ensure that the applications are processed and sent to you in a test distribution file.

University staff can create 1 OUAC account that they can use each year to test the Undergraduate application and any other applicable OUAC applications.

Specific information about decision files, including scenarios, errors and sample files, is in Appendix D of the OUAC Systems Manual.

The OUAC processes decision files twice daily, Monday through Friday, at 5 am and 2:30 pm. Exception files are available by 10 am and 4 pm, respectively. Be sure to check exception files regularly.

System changes for each new application cycle are documented in the OUAC Systems Manual.

We make the first release available each spring for the next cycle and send the final version in September. The documentation highlights the changes by department for the new cycle.

Data distributions are available from Monday to Friday during the usual cycle processing period.

• We aim to have distributions available first thing in the morning on distribution days; however, please allow until 10 am for us to release distributions.
• If distributions are not available by 10 am, we will inform the universities as to when they are expected.
• We also ask that the universities schedule any automatic processes related to distribution retrieval after 10 am.

Shutdown and Start-up Schedule [PDF]

The SSH is used to exchange sensitive information between the OUAC and the universities. We post distribution files, including all supporting documents and some statistical reports, to this server for exchange.

The server is password protected and files are encrypted using PGP.

Using the SSH server

Using PGP

For technical assistance, email IT Support.

Distribution files are identified by applicant type (nsuas 105 and ssuas 101) and applicant type is included in the distribution file data for each applicant.

The OUAC Reference Number assigned to the applicant when they submit their application reflects their applicant type:

• 101 reference number range = 000001 – 124999
• 105 reference number range (combined 105D and 105F) = 140000 – 339999

We facilitate the collection of Ontario high school grade reports and transcripts on behalf of undergraduate applicants.

Applicants’ schools and/or boards submit grades throughout the application cycle. We send the grades that we receive to the universities the next business day. For key collection dates, refer to the Schedule of Dates.

Certain Ontario high schools allow applicants to request their official high school transcript electronically (completed courses only) through OCAS. This system is called eTMS.

Applicants can initiate their transcript request in the Transcripts section of the application.

We act as an agent for Ontario universities to collect course information, assessments and grades electronically through the Ministry of Education and Child Care in BC for BC high school students and some Yukon high school students.

Applicants should provide their BC Personal Education Number (PEN) in their application. They must also authorize the Ministry to release their academic record to the OUAC through the Student Transcripts Services (STS).

BC XML transcripts may be sent to you at any time throughout the cycle for former or in-progress students.

Starting mid-October, the OUAC collects grades for applicants who have attended a Quebec CEGEP. Applicants must provide their Code Permanent to authorize this collection.

Grades are requested and received daily. Grades are distributed to the universities the day after the OUAC receives and processes them.

Applicants must order transcripts from Ontario universities and colleges via an online transcript request in the application.

Tools in the OUAC Portal User Guide [PDF]

AIS Maintenance User Guide [PDF]]

Universities can process their own late exceptions for applicants who have missed the application deadlines.

Read the Late Exception Tool User Guide [PDF] or contact the Undergraduate Department directly for information about, or assistance with, using the Late Exception Tool.

Universities can use this tool to add or update applicant offers on a one-off basis. The tool eliminates the need to send a decision file, particularly when there are just a few changes or new offers.