How Do Canadian Universities Evaluate American Applicants?

Hey guys, quick question

When applying to Canadian universities as an American such as the University of Toronto, McGill, UBC, etc, do they only look at senior year semester grades? Or do they only look at test scores and disregard the grades you have earned from your senior by semester? At the UT website it says they look at test scores but do not seem to mention anything about looking at students’ senior semester or final grades. Could I get some clarification about this?

For American applicants the Canadian universities you mention will look at grades 10, 11 and usually your first semester grade 12 stats. They will also (except this year) look at you SAT/ACT scores.

At McGill, for example, if your UW GPA for grades 10 and 11 and your SAT/ACT scores are well above the published minima they may not ask for your first semester grade 12 stats and you may get your decision in December. If they are closer to the minima they will require your first semester grade 12 stats and the decision will come out later.

The only difference from American universities is that Canadian schools do not look at grade 9.

I have seen some students accepted based only on their grades from Grade 10 and 11, plus test scores. I have seen some students be asked for their first semester grades from Grade 12. I think that the difference was how strong the grades were from Grade 10 and 11, although it is possible that this might vary by university.

We looked at some smaller universities in eastern Canada for which SAT / ACT scores are either optional or not considered. Of course this year with COVID SAT / ACT scores are optional or not considered at a much wider range of schools.