Urban Worlds (Major) at Simon Fraser University

Programme overview

The Urban Worlds major is a Bachelor of Arts that can be completed in the Faculty of Environment (urban change stream) or the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (urban studies stream). Students declare after completing the 13 units of lower division introductory perspectives courses.

Faculty: Faculty of Environment | Department: Urban Studies Program | Study mode: full-time | Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

What you will study

Core courses are GEOG 161 Urban Change, PLAN 100 Introduction to Planning, URB 101 What is a city?, and one of INDG 101 or GEOG 267 Indigenous Geographies, followed by Foundations of Urban Practice (GEOG 266W or URB 201) and a quantitative methods course.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Faculty of Environment (BA programmes: Archaeology, Human Geography, Urban Worlds), BC and Yukon secondary school applicants for Fall 2026 onward: five approved academic Grade 12 courses including English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12; a minimum 70% in Language Arts 11, English 12 or equivalent; no specific Grade 11 course requirements. Admission is based on all approved academic Grade 11 and 12 courses. English language (all undergraduate applicants): 70% in a senior-level English after three years of full-time English-medium secondary schooling in Canada, or IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with no part below 6.0, TOEFL iBT 4.5 overall with no part below 4.0 (for tests taken before 21 January 2026: 88 with no part below 20), or CAEL 70 with no part below 60. Programme declaration: students must obtain a C- or better in courses applied to the major.

Requirements published at faculty level.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the courses you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Fall (September), Spring (January) and Summer (May) terms; most students start in the fall term.

Fall 2027: high school applications open 1 October 2026 and close 31 January 2027; other post-secondary transfer applications open 1 March 2027 and close 15 April 2027. Summer 2027: all applications open 1 December 2026 and close 15 January 2027. Spring 2027: all applications opened 1 July 2026 and close 15 September 2026.

The non-refundable application fee is 86 CAD for domestic students and 130 CAD for international students, payable online by credit card. Applications are submitted through EducationPlannerBC.

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