Program Overview

Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering (MASc)

The Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) program is suited to students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in a thesis-based research program. An M.A.Sc. is expected to take about 24 months. The MASc thesis is prepared with guidance from your Research Supervisor, who must agree to its technical content and findings. The thesis must be approved by a second reader, who may request revisions to the document. The Research Supervisor, in consultation with the second reader, assigns a grade to the thesis. M.A.Sc. degree candidates registered as full-time students are required to spend at least one winter session at the University. M.A.Sc. candidates may also register as part-time students. In either case, the program must be completed within 5 years of initial registration.

Overview

• The Department of Civil Engineering is one of Canada’s largest and most research-intensive civil engineering departments.
• Our faculty members, graduate students, and technical staff are engaged in world-renown and leading-edge research.
• There are over 200 graduate students working in research labs, and many of our faculty members hold multiple NSERC and CFI grants and contracts.

What makes the program unique?

• The structure of the Master of Applied Science program stood out, especially as an international student.
• The first two terms give you time to take courses related to your research, which helps a lot in getting a solid foundation before diving into your project.
• It is also a great way to get familiar with UBC, Vancouver, and Canadian culture while making new friends along the way.

Quick Facts

• Faculty: Faculty of Applied Science
• Academic Unit: Department of Civil Engineering
• Specialization: Civil Engineering
• Mode of delivery: In person at UBC Vancouver
• Program Components: Coursework + Thesis required
• Tuition (First Year):
  • Domestic: $5,626.02
  • International: $9,883.98
• Median Funding: 50% of students receive $31,823 or more funding per year in the first 2 years, before tuition and fees

Admission Information & Requirements

Check Eligibility

• Minimum Academic Requirements: The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC).
• English Language Test: Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application.
  • TOEFL:
    • Overall score requirement: 100
    • Reading: 22
    • Writing: 25
    • Speaking: 21
    • Listening: 22
  • IELTS:
    • Overall score requirement: 7.0
    • Reading: 6.5
    • Writing: 6.5
    • Speaking: 6.5
    • Listening: 6.5

Meet Deadlines

• Program Name: Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering (MASc)
• Intake: September 2026
• Canadian Applicant Deadline: 31 January 2026
• International Applicant Deadline: 31 January 2026

Prepare Application

• Transcripts: All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study.
• Letters of reference: Applicants have to submit 3 references to apply to this graduate program.
• Statement of Interest: Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.
• Supervision: Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor.

Research Information

Research Focus

• Civil Engineering Materials
• Environmental Engineering (Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Geo-Environmental, Pollution Control & Wastewater Management)
• Geotechnical Engineering
• Hydrotechnical Engineering
• Project & Construction Management
• Structural Engineering (Earthquake Engineering)
• Transportation Engineering

Tuition & Financial Support

Tuition

• Fees:
  • Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat: $5,626.02
  • International: $9,883.98
• Application Fee:
  • Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat: $118.50
  • International: $168.25
• Other Fees and Costs:
  • Student Fees (yearly): $1,144.10 (approx.)
  • Costs of living: Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies.

Financial Support

• Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based and need-based opportunities.
• Funding Statistics:
  • Based on the criteria outlined below, 24 students within this program were included in this study because they received funding through UBC in the form of teaching, research, academic assistantships or internal or external awards with a mean of $30,732 and a median of $31,823.
  • This results in a net balance (any funding provided to the student minus tuition and fees) mean of $21,043 and median of $22,262.

Career Options

• The Master of Applied Science is the recommended course of study for students who are interested in eventually pursuing a Ph.D.

Alumni on Success

• Sazid Zaman: Civil (Hydraulic) Engineer at SNC-Lavalin

Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats

• ENROLMENT DATA:
  • Applications: 180 (2023), 177 (2022), 199 (2021), 220 (2020), 233 (2019)
  • Offers: 27 (2023), 33 (2022), 39 (2021), 23 (2020), 33 (2019)
  • New Enrolment: 17 (2023), 18 (2022), 26 (2021), 13 (2020), 19 (2019)
  • Total Enrolment: 64 (2023), 64 (2022), 66 (2021), 53 (2020), 63 (2019)
• Completion Rates & Times:
  • This program has a graduation rate of 96% based on 115 students admitted between 2015 - 2018.
  • Based on 69 graduations between 2020 - 2023 the minimum time to completion is 1.02 years and the maximum time is 6.14 years with an average of 2.7 years of study.

Research Supervisors

• Adebar, Perry: Concrete structures, seismic design, high-rise buildings, shear design, evaluation and repair of structures
• Banthia, Nemkumar: Materials engineering, concrete, advanced composite materials, shotcrete, fibre reinforcement, rebound mechanics, kinamatic studies, optimization, supplementary cementing materials in concrete
• Beck, Sara: Water quality; Innovative water treatment solutions; Ultraviolet disinfection mechanisms; Applications of UV LEDs (light emitting diodes); Water disinfection; Water reuse; Applied environmental microbiology; Water quality, Innovative water treatment solutions, Ultraviolet disinfection mechanisms, Applications of UV LEDs (light emitting diodes), Water disinfection, Water reuse, Applied environmental microbiology
• Berube, Pierre: Water treatment, trace organic contaminants, membrane and advanced oxidation technologies.
• Bigazzi, Alex: Active transportation; Pedestrians; bicycles; travel behaviour; Transportation Systems; motor vehicle emissions; Climate impacts; Active transportation, Pedestrians, Bicycles, Travel behaviour, Transportation Systems, Motor vehicle emissions, Climate impacts
• Dhakal, Ribu: Geotechnical earthquake engineering, soil liquefaction, numerical modeling of systems, geotechnical field investigation, soil-structure interaction, laboratory testing of soils
• Fannin, R Jonathan: Shear wave velocity for the detection of fines loss in soils, internal erosion in earth dams, seepage-induced instability in gap-graded soils, grain shape and the strength of sands, filtration compatibility of woven and nonwoven geotextiles, pullout resistance of geogrids in static and dynamic loading, debris flow travel distance on steep mountainous terrain, slope stability in engineering practice
• Haukaas, Terje: Structural Reliability; Sensitivity Analysis; Earthquake Engineering; Nonlinear Structural Analysis; Structural Reliability, Sensitivity Analysis, Earthquake Engineering, Nonlinear Structural Analysis
• Jelovica, Jasmin: Finite element analysis; Machine Learning; Metals and Alloys; Production and Process Optimization; Sandwich structures; Solid Mechanics; Stress Analysis; Structural optimization; Ultimate, fatigue and impact strength; Welding and joining of metals; Finite element analysis, Machine learning, Metals and Alloys, Production and Process Optimization, Sandwich structures, Solid Mechanics, Stress Analysis, Structural optimization, Ultimate, fatigue and impact strength, Welding and joining of metals
• Kalyan, Bavisha: Environmental justice; Environmental Health and Engineering; Urban and Industrial water and soil contamination; Environmental Justice, Environmental Health and Engineering, Urban and Industrial water and soil contamination
• Kim, Amy
• Laval, Bernard: Physical limnology fluid mechanics environmental fluid mechanics underwater robotics, Field and 3D numerical modeling techniques to describe the spatial and temporal variations of physical processes and their impacts on transport in lakes and coastal waters
• Lawrence, Gregory: Environmental fluid mechanics, hydraulics, hydrodynamic stability and mixing, physical limnology, water quality management
• Lee, Jongho: Membranes, Water/Wastewater Treatment, Desalination, Resource Harvesting, Nanoporous Media, Electrokinetics
• Lence, Barbara Jean: Hydrotechnical, Optimizing design and operational strategies of water resources projects, reliable withdrawal-treatment strategies for contaminated groundwater supply systems, asset management strategies for mid-sized water utilities with limited break data, water distribution system operational procedures to meet hydraulic and water quality objectives
• Li, Loretta: Contaminated site investigation and management, environmental monitoring, risk and impact assessment, soil-contaminant interactions, mobility and migration of contaminants, remediation technology, mine tailings waste disposal and treatment processes
• Molina Hutt, Carlos: Earthquake engineering, performance-based seismic design, seismic resilience, risk analysis, high-rise buildings, innovative structural systems
• Murphy, Enda: Coastal and estuarine system dynamics; Nature-based solutions; Whole system thinking; Coastal systems engineering; Transdisciplinary research; Numerical modelling; Physical modelling; Coastal flood and erosion hazard risk; Coastal and estuarine system dynamics, Nature-based solutions, Whole system thinking, Coastal systems engineering, Transdisciplinary research, Numerical modelling, Physical modelling, Coastal flood and erosion hazard risk
• Pujara, Nimish: Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Coastal Engineering, Hydrotechnical Engineering, Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Biological Fluid Mechanics, Water Wave Mechanics, Sediment Transport, Marine Debris and Plastic Pollution
• Sayed, Tarek: Transportation engineering, Full Bayes safety models, Automated safety analysis using computer vision techniques, Safety evaluations, Traffic conflicts techniques, Pedestrian modeling, and ITS
• Scholes, Rachel: Environmental chemistry; Trace contaminants; Water reuse; Nature-based treatment systems; Stormwater treatment; Green Chemistry; Environmental chemistry, Trace contaminants, Water reuse, Nature-based treatment systems, Stormwater treatment, Green chemistry
• Staub-French, Sheryl: Virtual Design and Construction (VDC), Building Information Modeling (BIM), collaboration and integrated project delivery, design and construction coordination, 4D (3D + time) visualization, interactive workspaces
• Swei, Omar: Asset Management, Life Cycle Modeling, Optimization Methods, Real Options, Reinforcement Learning, Risk Analysis, Sequential Decision-Making, Stochastic Modeling, Sustainable Infrastructure Management, Time-Series Methods, Uncertainty Estimation and Propagation
• Taiebat, Mahdi: Theoretical and computational geomechanics; Constitutive modeling of engineering materials; Physics and mechanics of granular materials; Geotechnical earthquake engineering; Seismic soil-structure interaction; Theoretical and computational geomechanics, Constitutive modeling of engineering materials, Physics and mechanics of granular materials, Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Seismic soil-structure interaction
• Vaziri, Reza: Finite element analysis, Mechanics of composite materials, Constitutive modeling of engineering materials, Plasticity, Damage mechanics, Process modeling of composite structures, Analysis of impact and blast loading of metallic and composite structures

Sample Thesis Submissions

• A probabilistic framework to support the selection of low embodied carbon building designs
• Powering e-bike adoption: societal and user impacts of British Columbia’s e-bike rebate program
• Iron-based reactive soil amendments for the treatment of stormwater-derived trace organic contaminants in bioretention systems
• Investigation of an aqueous iron amendment for enhanced treatment of trace organic contaminants in vertical flow constructed wetlands
• Towards highway design readiness for vehicle automation: a 3D risk assessment approach using reliability theory
• Stratification during spring and summer in a brackish lake subject to ice cover
• Experimental and analytical studies of reinforced masonry shear walls with and without boundary elements subjected to in-plane cyclic loading
• Seismic performance evaluation of a special concrete core wall volumetric steel modular high-rise system
• Managing delays in transit through vehicle scheduling and run time variation
• Optimizing magnitude scaling relationships for liquefaction triggering procedures using ground motion intensity measurements
• Unalerted perception-reaction time and emergency stopping sight distance for people riding bicycles
• Development and application of monocular 3D point cloud for structural damage quantification
• Carbon fiber-based chemiresistors for structural health monitoring
• What is the impact of jaywalking on pedestrian interaction behavior?: a Markov game-based analysis
• Analysis of activated sludge microbial communities in a full-scale activated sludge wastewater treatment system
• Exploring hospital accessibility in British Columbia's Lower Mainland
• Safety-oriented human-robot collaboration in construction through alignment of human preference
• Construction safety inspection with large pre-trained vision-language models
• Cyclists' route choices depend on their energy expenditure preferences
• Sensitivity studies in nonlinear dynamic finite element analysis
• Multi-year measurement and analysis of hydrostatic pressure effects on methane ebullition flux in a boreal oil sands pit lake
• The effects of U.S. interstate spending on pavement condition and the environment
• A mesoscopic cycling energy modelling approach based on emissions modelling principles
• Seismic design and performance evaluation of balloon-type CLT shear walls in Canada
• Quality assurance for building components through point cloud segmentation leveraging synthetic data
• Analysing the impact of carbonation and chloride diffusion on geopolymer mortar
• Chemical cleaning protocols for passive gravity driven membrane filtration
• Visualizing the impact of natural disaster disruption events with 511 data: a case study in the province of British Columbia, Canada
• Behaviour of bolted end-plate connections for glulam braces under cyclic axial loads
• Advanced scan-to-model framework for analysis of irregular structures

Related Programs

• Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (PhD)
• Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering (MEng)
• Master of Engineering Leadership in Integrated Water Management (MEL)

Further Information

• Specialization: Civil Engineering
• UBC Calendar: graduate-and-postdoctoral-studies/degree-programs/civil-engineering
• Program Website:
• Faculty: Faculty of Applied Science
• Academic Unit: Department of Civil Engineering
• Program Identifier: VGMMAC-ED
• Classification: Engineering and technology » Civil engineering, maritime engineering, transport engineering, and mining engineering » Civil engineering