Prospective students

Your program, projects, and contacts at UBC depend on whether you plan to come to UBC to do research and earn a salary as an employee or whether the research is part of your educational program as a student at your home institution.  

VIRS is the approved program for international students who want to engage in full-time research at UBC under the supervision of UBC faculty member. If you meet the eligibility requirements and do not wish to take courses at UBC, consider applying to the VIRS program.

For students interested in also taking coursework or receiving compensation for research, consider other UBC options outlined here:

Helpful acronyms 

  • LMIA: Labour Market Impact Assessment 
  • IRCC: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, formerly known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada 

Check eligibility


UBC Crest The official logo of the University of British Columbia. Urgent Message An exclamation mark in a speech bubble. Caret An arrowhead indicating direction. Arrow An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Arrow in Circle An arrow indicating direction. Chats Two speech clouds. Facebook The logo for the Facebook social media service. Information The letter 'i' in a circle. Instagram The logo for the Instagram social media service. Linkedin The logo for the LinkedIn social media service. Location Pin A map location pin. Mail An envelope. Menu Three horizontal lines indicating a menu. Minus A minus sign. Telephone An antique telephone. Plus A plus symbol indicating more or the ability to add. Search A magnifying glass. Twitter The logo for the Twitter social media service. Youtube The logo for the YouTube video sharing service.