About the Program
Geology is the discipline that studies our planet and all of its natural environments with an emphasis on the field and laboratory study of the Earth. This program is recommended for students wishing to pursue careers in the resource industries or graduate studies in Geology. The extraction of Canada’s mineral and petroleum wealth contributes billions to the Canadian economy, directly employing nearly a million workers. Our department has longstanding relationships with these industries. The key to managing Canada’s resources is the ability to efficiently find resources, and to extract them in environmentally and socially responsible ways.
Honours Bachelor of Science
After completing your first year, you'll be asked to confirm what program(s) you wish to study – your Programs of Study. They can be integrated in unique ways to obtain your U of T degree, but must be one of the following three combinations: one Specialist; or two Majors; or one Major and two Minors. You don't need to worry about that now, but if you'd like to learn more about this process, watch our handy video (7 min).
Admission Requirements
You apply to an admission category, which is a collection of similar programs. Once you've accepted an offer of admission to our campus, we go into greater detail about specific program and course selection options.
At the end of your first year, you will choose your program(s), which means that your first year is an excellent opportunity to explore the full breadth of offerings.
Regardless of what you study, remember that you will receive a prestigious University of Toronto degree when you graduate that tells everyone that you are ranked among the best in the world!
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The admission average is calculated with English (ENG4U) plus the next best five Grade 12 U or M courses. Meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee you admission to the University. Admission is subject to space availability and competition.
The content in this section is based on requirements in the Ontario curriculum.
Find requirements to other common curricula:
- International Baccalaureate
- U.S.-Patterned Education
- British-Patterned Education
- French Baccalaureate
- Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE)
Please visit the Admissions section of our site for full requirements.
Discover Your Potential
On the afternoon of April 15, 2015, an earthquake rocked the Himalayas, causing widespread death and damage across Nepal, India and Tibet. The magnitude 7.8 quake—the strongest ever recorded in the region—rattled glaciers and ice falls along a ridge just to the west of Mount Everest.
Snugged up against the upper edges of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland, lies the oldest and thickest sea ice in the world. This ice covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of Arctic Ocean. Arctic sea ice grows and shrinks with the seasons, but this ice, its frozen heart, has so far lasted even through the warmest summers on record.
Something unexpected is happening at U of T Mississauga. The ground has started to rumble with increasing frequency, shaking buildings, rattling desks and leading to mounting concern and confusion.
Student Experience
Courses You Would Love
An introduction to geological time and the dynamic evolution of the surface of the Earth. Lectures discuss the processes involved in the deformation of Earth's crust including mechanical principals, stress, and strain. Particular focus on the structure of rocks.
This course focuses on the central concepts of hydrology by taking a systems approach to the movement and storage of water on and in a watershed. This course serves as a gateway to the more advanced treatment of hydrology in upper levels.
An introduction to equilibrium thermodynamics with application to ideal and non-ideal systems: covering the concepts of work and heat, the laws of thermodynamics, internal energy, enthalpy and entropy, the chemical potential, and states of matter.
Planning Ahead
Whether you want to land your dream job, conduct groundbreaking research, or start your own business, we can get you there. Here are resources to help you explore your career options.
Career Options
Created by our Career Centre, the Careers by Major database identifies some potential career fields, how to gain related skills and experience, and useful resources and job samples. But always remember, your program of study doesn't have to determine your career!
Program Plans
Program Plans are quick and accessible overviews of the many academic and co-curricular opportunities available to help you get the most out of your UTM experience.
Tip Sheets
The Career Centre offers dozens of tip sheets with helpful information about topics related to searching for work, planning your career, and pursuing further education.
View to the U: An eye on UTM research
View to the U is a podcast that features U of T Mississauga faculty members from a range of disciplines who will illuminate some of the inner-workings of the science labs and enlighten the social sciences and humanities hubs at UTM.
On this episode, Professor Lindsay Schoenbohm talks about her work that uses the landscape to read tectonics, with tectonics being the process that affect the properties and the structure of the Earth’s crust and its evolution over time. We also cover some of the faraway locales she has travelled to in order to conduct her fieldwork – venturing most commonly to ‘seismically active parts of the world,’ where earthquakes can occur – as well as some of the more exciting and memorable trips that have occurred over the course of her academic career.
Learn More About this Program
Other Programs to Consider
Astronomical Sciences
Astronomical Sciences studies the vast universe beyond Earth, discovering objects and phenomena that do not exist on Earth or in the solar system, such as planets orbiting other stars, black holes and forms of mass and energy that cannot be seen even though they form 95% of the universe. To study these objects, astronomical sciences integrates the methods and knowledge of all the other sciences.
Environmental Geosciences
Completion of this program is intended to fulfill the knowledge requirements for certification as a Professional Geoscientist (P. Geo.) in conformity with the stipulations of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO) and the Canadian Council of Professional Geoscientists (CCPG).