You can enroll using Mosaic. Learn more about the enrolment process at the registrar’s office web page.
Undergraduate FAQs
General Questions
Civil Engineering is the technology of planning for, and safely designing, constructing, maintaining, and rehabilitating community infrastructure. Civil engineers design and construct many facilities that are critical to our society.
Civil Engineering addresses the interaction of people with the built and natural environment. Engineers use established theories, techniques, and emerging technologies to understand and solve complex problems.
Civil Engineering is comprised of the following specialty areas:
- Construction Engineering & Management
- Environmental & Water Resources Engineering
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Structural Engineering
- Transportation Engineering
For descriptions and more information about the specialty areas of Civil Engineering, click here!
Co-Op students in Civil Engineering have worked with a wide range of employers including Aecon Group, Toronto Hydro Corporation, McNally Construction, the Government of Ontario, Sobotec, and many more!
For more information about McMaster Engineering’s Co-Op and Career Services, check out the ECCS Website.
All programs have limited enrolment, therefore the average required for acceptance changes every year and is dependent on the number of applicants.
All students in McMaster’s Engineering Program complete a common Level 1 year before selecting their fields.
Please refer to the Undergraduate Calendar for requirements to complete a degree in Civil Engineering.
Multi-term courses (such as CIVENG 4X06) run from September – April. Students must be enrolled in both Part A (Fall) and Part B (Winter) to fully enrol/complete the course.
When you enrol in Part A in the Fall term, Mosaic will automatically enrol you in Part B for the Winter term.
A course is worth the number of units identified in the final digit of the course code. For example, CIVENG 2A03 is worth 3 units and CIVENG 4N04 is worth 4 units.
CIVENG 4X06 is worth 6 units and runs from September – April, with a weight of 3 units per term.
The Department of Civil Engineering endeavors to provide conflict-free options for students however, there are times when a conflict is unavoidable.
If you are following the Undergraduate Calendar and cannot avoid a conflict with required courses, please contact the Undergraduate Administrative Assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at cr_ugciv@mcmaster.ca
Students who are out of Calendar may not be able to circumvent conflicts with courses from different levels. We often suggest that lower level courses are completed prior to continuing with the program.
To continue enrolling in two courses that conflict, please submit a Course Conflict Form to the Civil Engineering Office. Be sure to indicate the specific sections that are in conflict and include in your submission:
– A copy of your transcript (you can download your unofficial transcript from Mosaic)
– A letter stating the reason for your request
– Your academic plan (how you plan to be successful in both courses, as well as your future course plans)
You can request to waive the prerequisite for a course with an Engineering Permission Form.
Be sure to fill out the top portion and the ‘Prerequisite Waiver’ box and submit to the Civil Engineering Office. Include with your form submission:
– A copy of your transcript (you can download your unofficial transcript from Mosaic)
– A letter stating the reason for your request
– Your academic plan (how you plan to be successful, as well as your future course plans)
Please note that approval of any request form is at the discretion of the instructor.
Due to the number of Technical Electives that are offered in the Department of Civil Engineering, we are unable to schedule all electives conflict free.
That said, we do our very best to request that popular courses (based on the Technical Electives form submissions – due at the end of March in the previous Academic Year) and courses within specialty areas are scheduled without conflict. Unfortunately, there will be cases where courses conflict with one another. We suggest selecting different courses to fulfill the requirements of the course.
If you still wish to register in both courses in conflict, you can submit a Course Conflict request form (as outlined above).
Students may request to review their graded Final Examination up to one year after writing.
Students may be granted permission only once and after completing the Exam Review Request Form. Please be sure to fill out the form in its entirety and submit to the Civil Engineering Office.
Upon approval of the request, students will be contacted with an appointment date/time to review their exam in the Civil Engineering Office.
The McMaster Engineering Society has teamed up with the Student Success Centre to offer tutoring to students in Engineering.
To find out more about Tutoring services or becoming a Tutor with the Student Success Centre, visit the centre’s Undergrad Peer Tutoring Network site.
You can view your exam schedule in Mosaic by selecting the My Exam Schedule title.
Please submit your Technical Elective Form online by April 1st, 2023.
Please note that this form DOES NOT automatically register you in any courses. It helps us gauge interest and try to ensure the most popular courses are conflict free, but you must still officially enroll through Mosaic when registration opens in the summer.
Please refer to the How to Apply web page.
Please visit the registrar’s office Dates and Deadlines web page for sessional dates, enrolment dates, convocation dates, aid & award dates, and fee dates.
For all undergraduate-related inquiries, email cr_ugciv@mcmaster.ca.
For graduate-related questions, email civil@mcmaster.ca.
You can also ask questions using the Ask a Question tab on this page.
COVID-19
You can find more information, resources and COVID-19-related FAQs on the McMaster COVID-19’s Information for Students web page.
Please visit the Technology Resources for Students tab on this page for a list of resources available to you.
Please refer to the Grade Change Options for Undergraduate Courses web page.
Technology Resources for Students
University Technology Services (UTS) and the MacPherson Institute are available to provide remote support for a range of tools and services that students may find themselves using within a virtual learning environment.
The MacPherson Institute
The MacPherson Institute provides technology resources for teaching and learning. The following are services that MacPherson supports and corresponding technical support contact information:
- Avenue to Learn: For any issues, please submit a ticket on the support page.
- WebEx: For any issues, please reach out to WebEx 24/7 support at: 1-866-229-3239
University Technology Services
University Technology Services (UTS) supports institution-wide productivity tools. Please contact uts@mcmaster.ca for questions pertaining to any of the services below. For an overview of IT tools and services that enable you to work remotely, please visit the UTS web page.
- MacID Support: Your personalized credentials that allow access to various resources such as Mosaic, email, library resources, Wi-Fi etc. UTS supports this service. More info on the UTS web page.
- Virtual UTS Student Labs: This virtual desktop service allows users to access UTS Student Labs anywhere there is internet connectivity. More details are available in this VMWare View Client Installation Instruction PDF.
- Web and videoconferencing at McMaster: The university offers three web and video conferencing services: Microsoft Teams and Zoom (both supported by UTS) as well as WebEx (support by the MacPherson Institute). This article on conferencing tips breaks down the difference between these platforms.
- Office365 (O365): The O365 suite of products and services (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, OneDrive, and more) is available to all McMaster community members. Please visit the Office 365 Hub for advice and support for these tools.
- LinkedIn Learning: Active McMaster students, faculty and staff have free, unlimited access to video tutorials related to business, media, and technology through LinkedIn Learning, a self-service training site. More details available on the LinkedIn Learning McMaster page.
Best practices for online coursework
For the above services and tools to work as efficiently as possible, please follow the tips below as you access courses online and take tests remotely:
- Turn off all unnecessary programs, especially Netflix, YouTube, games like Xbox or PS4, anything that might be downloading or streaming.
- If your house is shared, ask others to refrain from doing those activities during the test.
- If you can, connect to the internet via a wired connection.
- Move close to the Wi-Fi hub in your house.
- Restart your computer, 1-2 hours before the exam. A restart can be very helpful for several computer hiccups.
Please reach out to UTS at uts@mcmaster.ca with any questions about the information above.
Ask a Question
Click the button to ask about the McMaster University Civil Engineering Program!