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As an applicant, it is important to solicit references from individuals who are able to provide a knowledgeable assessment of your academic and professional potential. References from family and friends are strongly discouraged.
Three to five days following the submission of your application through OUAC you and your referees will receive an automated email from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (gradadmissions@wlu.ca). Your email will advise you to log into LORIS to upload your supplemental application documents. Your referees’ email will provide the referee with the link to our confidential online reference system, asking them to complete the reference within 14 days.
The submission of the requested reference letters will be confirmed on LORIS (navigate to your application checklist on LORIS and scroll to the Referees section). You will receive up to two reminders within the two-week period if the reference letters have not been submitted to Laurier.
Note that some programs require professional references in addition to those from academic instructors (check the program’s application checklist carefully).
Academic references can assess your academic achievements, your motivation to enter the program you selected and your creative and intellectual promise.
Professional references can speak to your work and/or volunteer experience as related to your proposed program of study. The referee should be able to comment on your aptitude and motivation required for this career choice, and the relevance of this program to your career path.
It will take three to five business days from the time you have submitted your OUAC application and paid the non-refundable application fee for your referees to be notified.
You will receive an email from Laurier acknowledging that your application has been received and that your referees have been contacted. We encourage you to review your referees contact information carefully to ensure that the email addresses you provided are correct.
Log in to your Loris account with your Laurier username and password. Navigate to your Application Checklist and scroll down to the Referee Section. Select the option to ‘Cancel this reference’ for the referee with the incorrect email. A blank space will open in the ‘Add New Referee’ section for you to re-enter the referee with the correct information. Click ‘Submit’ and a new link to the online reference form will be sent automatically to the new email address. You will also receive an email confirmation that a new reference has been sent.
If your referee has not submitted the reference within the 14 days, you will be sent an email titled “Application to Laurier: Action Required – Reference Not Received” At this point, you have two options:
If your referee has not submitted the reference within the 14 days, you will be sent an email titled “Application to Laurier: Action Required - Reference not received.” At this point, you have two options:
By accessing the LORIS site, you may select the relevant graduate program application to see the status of your referee submissions. “Pending” means the references have not yet been completed. “Received” means the references are complete.
The questions asked and the required responses are nearly identical on the forms. When the program begins reviewing the reference, they will be able to determine the ‘type’ of reference submitted based upon the responses to the questions. We are unable to change the ‘type’ of reference once the referee has submitted the form.
Yes, your referee will need to fill out a separate reference form for each application. It is helpful to advise your referees of this in advance.
Please advise your referee to ensure all fields have been completed – including organization name, department, etc. (please indicate N/A if not applicable). Then, try the submit button at the bottom of the form again.
The reference form works best in Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. If you cannot detect the URL itself, contact gradadmissions@wlu.ca to have the link sent to you so that you can cut and paste it into a browser directly. When contacting gradadmissions@wlu.ca, it is helpful to describe what you see on the screen or send us screen shots so that we can assist you with troubleshooting any issues.
Some of our programs do have firm application submission deadlines (including references). The applicant for whom you are preparing a reference will receive two follow-up emails after the initial request, on day seven and on day 14. Thereafter, no further reminders will be sent by email. The URL itself (in the email) will not expire until you have submitted the completed reference, or until the applicant has cancelled the request for your submission, or the admissions cycle has been closed.
It is helpful if you define the peer group by providing the number of students/employees/volunteers and the approximate time frame of your experience with that peer group.
If you are completing an academic reference, you might choose to compare the applicant to other students whom you have taught and/or supervised, who have attained a similar level of study, who may have a comparable disciplinary focus, or who may have sought admission to a comparable graduate program.
If you are completing a professional reference, you might choose to compare the applicant to other employees (or volunteers as applicable) whom you have supervised or worked with, who have a similar professional background or professional role, or who may have shared academic and/or professional career objectives.
At the bottom of the reference form, select the "Restart" button. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to restart. By selecting "yes," any information previously saved or entered will be removed from the form and you will be returned to the first page where you select "Academic" or "Professional."
Once you have clicked on "Submit" at the bottom of the reference form, you will be taken to a page with a picture of a checkmark that says, “Thank you for your submission.” You will also receive an email with a PDF copy of the reference form for your records.
The reference forms are nearly identical. Once the program begins reviewing your reference, they will be able to determine the ‘type’ of reference based upon your response.
If you have received two emails, the applicant has applied to more than one program. You will need to complete a separate reference for each program. Please be sure to use each link only once.
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