Canadian Grading System – Canada GPA Calculator

Understanding how the grading system works in Canada is very important for both local and international student coming to study in Canada. All Canadian universities are well equipped, have some of the best researchers and academics in the world, and support students in their academic pursuit. You will never regret studying at any Canadian university.

However, you will also need to have some documentations and meet some requirements before you could gain admission into any university in Canada. Although these requirements vary from one school to another, there are some that are common to, almost, all the schools. These include English Proficiency Certificate (TOEFL, IELTS, Pearson, etc.) or French Proficiency Certificate for courses that are taught in French, Degree Certificate and Transcript (for postgraduate application), High school result, etc.

In this article, we will discuss about the Canadian university grading system, as this will help you to know how to calculate your GPA – Grade Point Average, which you will use while applying for admission in any Canadian university.

 

 

How to Convert GPA to Canadian University Grading System Standard?

It is worth noting that most Canadian universities use 4.0 grading system, some of them use 9.0 grading system, while others make use of 4.33 or 4.3 or 4.5 grading system.

The grading system varies across territories and provinces in Canada. The tables below show the the grading systems used in different provinces in Canada.

 

Alberta GPA Conversion Table

Letter Grade	Percentage (%)	4.0 GPA
A+,A	85-100	4
A-	80-84	3.7
B+	76-79	3.3
B	73-75	3
B-	70-72	2.7
C+	67-69	2.3
C	64-66	2
C-	60-63	1.7
D+	55-59	1.3
D	50-54	1
E,F	0-49	0

British Columbia GPA Conversion Table

Letter Grade	Percentage (%)	4.0 GPA	4.33 GPA
A+	95-100	4	4.33
A	90-94	3.9	4
A-	85-89	3.7	3.67
B+	80-84	3.3	3.33
B	75-79	3	3
B-	70-74	2.7	2.67
C+	65-69	2.3	2.33
C	60-64	2	2
C-	55-59	1.7	1.67
D	50-54	1	1
F, UN	0-49	0	0

Manitoba GPA Conversion Table

Letter Grade	4.0 GPA
A+	4
A	3.9
A-	3.7
B+	3.3
B	3
B-	2.7
C+	2.3
C	2
C-	1.7
D+	1.3
D	1
D-	0.7
E, F	0

Nova Scotia GPA Conversion Table

Letter Grade	4.0 GPA
A+, A	4
A-	3.67
B+	3.33
B	3
B-	2.67
C+	2.33
C	2
C-	1.67
D+	1.33
D	1
D-	0.67
F	0

Ontario GPA Conversion Table

Letter Grade	Percentage (%)	12-Point	4.0 GPA
A+	90-100	12	4
A	85-89	11	3.9
A-	80-84	10	3.7
B+	77-79	9	3.3
B	73-76	8	3
B-	70-72	7	2.7
C+	67-69	6	2.3
C	63-66	5	2
C-	60-62	4	1.7
D+	57-59	3	1.3
D	53-56	2	1
D-	50-52	1	0.7
E, F	0-49	0	0

Quebec GPA Conversion Table

Percentage (%)	4.0 GPA
90-100	4
85-89	3.9
80-84	3.7
77-79	3.3
73-76	3
70-72	2.7
67-69	2.3
63-66	2
60-62	1.7
57-59	1.3
53-56	1
50-52	0.7
0-49	0

 

Why do I need to calculate my GPA?

Academic record is one of the yardsticks that the admission offices use in ranking applicants. Therefore, having stellar academic performance in your previous education/training is an added advantage for you over other applicants. However, especially as an international student, you might have to convert your GPA to the grading system used in your chosen Canadian university. The reason for this is that we have tens of grading systems all over the world. These grading systems include 4.0, 5.0, 7.0, 9.0, 10.0, 20.0 etc. I am sure you now understand why you need to convert your GPA to that of your chosen university.

The tables below show the fundamental percentage equivalent for the grading systems used in Canadian universities.

 

4.0 Grading System for Canadian Universities

Letter Grade	Percentage (%)	GPA
A+	92-100	4.33
A	88-91	4
A-	85-87	3.67
B+	82-84	3.33
B	78-81	3
B-	75-77	2.67
C+	72-74	2.33
C	68-71	2
C-	65-67	1.67
D	55-64	1
F	0-54	0

 

9.0 Grading System for Canadian Universities

Letter Grade	Percentage (%)	GPA
A+	90-100	9.0
A	80-89	8
B+	75-79	7
B	70-74	6
B-	65-69	5
C+	60-64	4
C	55-59	3
C-	50-54	2
D	40-49	1
F	0-39	0

As mentioned earlier, the grading system varies across the Canadian territories. In fact, it varies across some universities in the same territory.

• In the territory of Alberta, tertiary institutions like the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, MacEwan University, and SAIT Polytechnic make use of 4.0 grade point, while the rest of the territory make use of 4.3 grade point.
• In the territory of British Columbia, the universities make use of percentage. A is 86 – 100%, B is 73 – 85%, C+ is 67 – 72%, C is 60 – 66%, C- is 50 – 59%, I is 0 – 49%, and F is 0 – 49%.
• The exceptional grade point in the territory of Manitoba is rated as 4.5.
• The grading system in the territory of Newfoundland and Labrador is similar to that of British Columbia. A is 80 – 100%, B is 65 – 79%, C is 55 – 64%, D is 50 – 54%, and F is 0 – 49%.
• In Nova Scotia, A+ is 90-100%, A is 85 – 89%, A- is 80 – 84%, B+ is 77 – 79%, B is 73 – 76%, B- is 70 – 72%, C+ is 65 – 69%, C is 60-64%, C- is 55 – 59%, D is 50 – 54%, and F is 0 – 49%.
• In the territory of Ontario, they make use of 10.0 grading system.
• In Quebec and New Brunswick, some universities make use of the 4.3 grading system, while others make use of 4.33 grading system.
• In Saskatchewan, A+ is 90 – 100%, A is 80 – 89%, B is 70 -79%, C is 60 – 69%, D is 50 – 59% and F is 0 – 49%.

After you have understood the grading system of your university, you need to know how to convert your GPA to the one used in your chosen university.

To do this conversion, kindly follow these steps:

1. List out your grade letters alongside their respective grade numbers. For example, Grade B is 3.0 if your school uses 4.0 grading system.
2. List out the credit hours for your courses. e.g. 3 credit hours.
3. Multiply your answers in step 1 and 2 above. Then, divide the answer by the total number of credit hours.

Here is an example of a student who has taken one year of university courses in a Canadian university that uses 4.0 grading system.

 

First year result of a student

Course	Grade Letter	Grade Number	Credit Hours	GPA Value
Mathematics	B	3	6	18
Physics	A	4	3	12
Biology	A	4	3	12
English Language	C	2	3	6
Sociology	B	3	3	9
Statistics	A	4	3	12
Chemistry	C+	2.33	6	13.98
TOTAL				82.98

GPA = Total GPA value / Total Credit hoursFrom Table 3, it could be inferred that the student took 27 credit hours over the two semesters. The total GPA value of the student is 82.98.

GPA = 82.98 / 27

Therefore, the GPA of this student is 3.0733, which means that this student is a “B” student.

Click the button below to use the GPA calculator to convert and calculate your GPA for both Canadian universities and colleges.

GPA Calculator

 

Conclusion

I believe that you have now understood the grading systems in Canadian universities. We hope that you can now use the knowledge gained from this article to calculate your GPA and use it for your admission application. We wish you success in your endeavours.