University of Toronto St George campus quad in autumn with stone academic buildings.

Canada Open for September 2026 entry — applied automatically at offer stage

Waterloo President's International Experience Award (PIEA)

The Waterloo President's International Experience Award (PIEA) is an automatic CAD 10,000 (around LKR 2.35 million) entrance scholarship for international undergraduates joining the University of Waterloo. There is no separate application — every admitted international undergraduate is automatically considered, and most receive the full amount. The award is paid as a one-time deduction from first-year tuition. Waterloo is Canada's leading computer science / engineering / math university, ranked #1 in Canada for computer science by US News and consistently a top global feeder to Silicon Valley. The undergraduate co-op programme is the largest in North America (over 24,000 students), giving graduates 6 paid 4-month work terms — including frequent placements at FAANG, banks, and Canadian unicorns.

University of Waterloo

University-funded

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Value

CAD 10,000 (LKR 2,350,000)

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Duration

Year 1 (One-Time)

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Bonus

Auto-Considered for Co-op

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Offer for a Waterloo Undergraduate Degree

You must hold an offer for a full-time Waterloo undergraduate programme starting September 2026. Eligible programmes include Computer Science, all Engineering streams, Mathematics, Software Engineering, Computing & Financial Management, and Business Administration. The University of Waterloo's most competitive programmes have admission rates of around 5-7%.

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Strong Academic Results

Waterloo's competitive programmes typically require A-Level grades of AAA-A*A*A or equivalent. For Sri Lankan applicants this means a first-class predicted result; computer science / software engineering also factor in performance on the Euclid math contest or other AMC-equivalent participation.

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International Fee Status

Open to international students paying full overseas tuition. Sri Lankan citizens are eligible. The award is automatic — no separate application, financial information, or essay required.

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English Proficiency

Meet Waterloo's standard English requirement — typically IELTS 6.5+ overall (with no band below 6.5) or TOEFL iBT 90+ (with no section below 25). Sri Lankan applicants with English-medium A-Levels may qualify for an English test waiver.

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Apply to Waterloo by mid-January

Submit your Waterloo undergraduate application through Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) by mid-January 2026 for September 2026 entry. Include predicted grades, transcripts, and (for engineering / CS) the Admission Information Form (AIF).

Sit the Euclid / CCC contests (where applicable)

Computer Science and Math applicants are strongly encouraged to write the Euclid Math Contest (April) and Canadian Computing Contest (February). These contests significantly improve admission chances for the most competitive programmes.

Automatic award consideration

Every admitted international undergraduate is automatically considered for PIEA — no separate application. The CAD 10,000 award is named in the admissions offer letter alongside the standard cost-of-attendance breakdown.

Accept offer + receive award

Accept the offer through Quest (Waterloo's student portal). The CAD 10,000 is applied as a direct credit to your first-year tuition account in September. You then apply for the Canadian study permit with the reduced first-year tuition figure on the documentation.

Why Waterloo?

The University of Waterloo is Canada's largest engineering school and consistently a top global feeder to Silicon Valley — Bloomberg has ranked it the #1 university outside the US for tech graduate hires. The co-op programme has placed Waterloo undergrads at Google, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, Stripe, Shopify, RBC, and hundreds more.