Is it possible to obtain a PhD in Canada without having to attend courses for a master degree?

Canada is different from the USA, in that direct entry for a PhD after a bachelors degree is rare. The typical path is a bachelors, followed by two year masters, followed by four to five years for a PhD.

As far as I know, no typical Canadian PhD program also grants a masters, as in Canada, it's sort of implied that you already had one going into the PhD.

This is of course, based on my understanding of the sciences: Humanities and Engineering may vary.

EDIT: One note about courses: Course requirements vary dramatically from program to program, university to university. Some will require relatively few courses, others, many more.


I completed a PhD in Canada. I started in a MSc program, but after one year transferred into the PhD without completing the MSc. My total length of graduate studies was 5 years. This is not uncommon in biology at the schools I've been associated with. I'm not sure if you can technically apply directly to the PhD, but many students enter the MSc program with the expectation that they will transfer after one year, so it amounts to the same thing.

In my experience Canadian schools with a PhD program also grant MSc degrees in the same program. There are schools that only offer MSc without PhD though.