An applicant must have a recognized honours degree in history, or its equivalent, with at least a high second class or upper 'B' average. Applicants are required to include with their application a separate statement describing their proposed area of study and, where possible, the suggested thesis topic.

Students normally obtain the MA degree by satisfactorily completing six courses (at least 3.0 credits) and submitting a major paper on an approved topic (10,000 to 12,000 words). Alternatively, the student may qualify for the MA degree by completing four courses (at least 2.0 credits) and submitting a satisfactory thesis on an approved topic (25,000 words). They may also qualify for an MA by completing 8 courses (at least 4 credits) three of which must require a research paper. It is recommended but not required that students take HIST*6000 and HIST*6020. The remaining courses are subject to the approval of the Department of History. A reading knowledge of French is highly recommended and a student's advisory committee may require a second language for research purposes. MA students generally register for up to three courses per semester, or two if they hold a graduate teaching assistantship.

Graduate students are encouraged to consider including, as part of their program, appropriate graduate course offerings from other departments.