Deferral of Admission

If you are thinking about delaying the start of your studies, you may want to consider requesting a deferral to hold your spot. 

A deferral of admission may be an option if you choose to delay your studies for a variety of reasons. If granted a deferral, you will put your Letter of Acceptance/ Offer of Admission on hold to enable you to join us in a future semester with ease. Please note, not every program is eligible for a deferral. You cannot defer your Offer of Admission if you are planning to attend another institution during the deferral period. You will need to reapply. In addition, a Deferral of Admission will only be granted one time. Please see Deferral FAQs below.

Note, if you are interested in an alternate semester of entry within the same calendar year, please amend your application.

Before submitting a deferral request, ensure that you meet all of the following requirements:

  1. You have met all of your admission conditions on time.
  2. You accepted your Offer of Admission on time.
  3. You paid your non-refundable confirmation deposit on time.
  4. Your Letter of Acceptance/ Offer of Admission has not expired.
  5. You are not currently registered in courses at Lakehead University.

If you meet all five requirements, please continue and submit a deferral of admission request. 

Note, you will need your myPortal username and password in order to access the form. If you cannot access myPortal, please contact helpdesk@lakeheadu.ca. 

Deferral FAQ:

When will I know if my request for a deferral was approved? 

Deferral requests are reviewed on a rolling basis. Once we reach a decision, we will inform you via email. A decision can take up to 4-6 weeks, depending on the time of year.

My request for a deferral was approved. When will I receive my new Letter of Acceptance/ Offer of Admission? 

We will issue a new Letter of Acceptance/ Offer of Admission once we start accepting applications for the entry point you selected. For example, your new Letter of Acceptance/ Offer of Admission for Fall 2025 entry will be available in October of 2024 (i.e. when applications open for 2025 entry).

Why was my request for a deferral denied?

You did not satisfy all of the above requirements or you are requesting to defer to another semester within the same calendar year (e.g., 2024 spring/summer to 2024 fall). If you need to amend from a winter/spring start to fall, refer to the section on how to amend your offer. Note, all deferral decisions are final.

If you are interested in attending Lakehead at a later time, we encourage you to reapply for admission consideration once the application opens for your desired entry point.  

What programs are ineligible for a deferral?

Programs within the Faculty of Engineering are ineligible for deferrals.

If you received an offer to the Juris Doctor, do not complete this deferral process. Please connect with the Faculty of Law to determine whether your deferral request will be considered. Similarly, if you received an offer to the One-Year Social Work or Year Three Social Work programs, do not complete this deferral process. Please connect with the School of Social Work to determine whether your deferral request will be considered.

How can I amend my application to be considered for an alternate semester within the same calendar year?

  1. Log into your OUAC application
  2. Select "Edit My Application" OR within the "My Choices" section select the edit icon (top right)
  3. Within My Choices you can edit the details of a program you have applied to by selecting the edit icon (bottom right)
  4. If you already have an offer of admission/accepted an offer, you will need to withdraw your choice.
  5. Under Program Details, alter the expected date of enrolment to the desired date of enrolment (i.e. 2024 Fall (September)) and click "Save Program"
  6. A pop-up screen will confirm changes and indicate "All changes have been saved".

When you are done making changes, go to "Review and Payment" to verify your changes. Your edits will appear in the Review Summary. If your edits have been made correctly, continue to the Declaration and select "I Verify and Agree".