Computing Science

Simon Fraser University

Computing and Software: blue ink subject illustration

4 years
Duration (years)
4 years for the full BSc Computing Science
Sfu: explicit current programme duration
Co-op details
Work experience
Optional co-op for declared Computing Science majors, with at least three work terms for the designation.
SFU: current Computing Science co-op admission and work-term requirements
~High 80s to low 90s
Entering average
Published approximate guidance: High 80s to low 90s. Official three-year historical guide checked November 2026. Published historical guidance for Canadian, permanent resident and study-permit high school applicants.
SFU three-year historical high school admission guide

Deadlines

January 2027

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
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Next deadlineSunday, January 31, 2027

4 deadlines

Application
Fall 2027 · High-school applicants and applicants with fewer than 24 transferable postsecondary units
Official deadline
Fall undergraduate application
2027 entry · High school applicants
The application period opens October 1, 2026.
Official deadline
BC Student Transcript Service form
Fall 2027 · British Columbia high-school applicants
Official deadline
Undergraduate Scholars Entrance Scholarship documents due
Fall 2027 entry · Applicants for USES
January 31, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Include both references and admission documents on your goSFU to-do list. A complete qualifying USES application can also cover Beedie’s supplement.
Official deadline

Other deadline details

No central deadline, each B.C. institution sets its own application open and close datesEducationPlannerBC, deadlines are set per institutionRecurring annual · Every year

No central deadline, each B.C. institution sets its own application open and close dates
No central B.C. deadline
Each institution and sometimes each program sets its own dates

Full source wording

Verbatim: "Each institution sets their own application open and close dates. These dates also may vary based on the program you are applying to. You can use the search database to explore programs you are interested in applying to or visit the institution's website directly. Please refer to the institution's website or contact the Admissions/Registrar's Office directly for application deadlines and details." EducationPlannerBC is the single application service for B.C.'s 25 public post-secondary institutions but publishes no deadline dates of its own.

SourceChecked Aug 14, 2026

July–August 2027; exact date in Student CentreFinal transcriptsFall 2027

High-school applicants and applicants with fewer than 24 transferable postsecondary units
July–August 2027; exact date in Student Centre

SourceChecked Oct 11, 2026

July–August 2027; exact date in Student CentreTransfer final transcriptsFall 2027

Applicants with at least 24 transferable postsecondary units or a completed bachelor degree
July–August 2027; exact date in Student Centre

SourceChecked Oct 11, 2026

Requirements

Admission requirements

High-school prerequisites

ENG4UEnglish ENG4U (min 70%)70% min.
MHF4UAdvanced Functions MHF4U

Application steps

Step 1Check the admission requirements
- Check the published entry route for your applicant category.
SFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirementsSFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirements
Step 2Apply through EducationPlannerBC
- Create your application and select this program.
EducationPlannerBCEducationPlannerBC
Step 3Student Centre document list and final official records
- Submit the documents on your Student Centre To Do List. Upload items with an upload button; other items must come directly from an institution or by mail. Uploads are unofficial and can be used for evaluation. A conditional offer requires final official documents ordered directly from the institution.
SFU application document submission instructionsSFU application document submission instructions
Step 4Fall 2026 application fee: $87.75 domestic or $130 international
- The Fall 2026 calendar requires this non-refundable CAD fee before an admission or readmission application is submitted. It is separate from tuition and any later admission deposit.
SFU Fall 2026 calendar: undergraduate application feesSFU Fall 2026 calendar: undergraduate application fees
Step 5Apply through EducationPlannerBC to the exact SFU degree.
- Complete this item using the university’s applicant instructions.
SFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirementsSFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirements
Step 6Report grades and provide academic transcripts and language evidence required for your applicant category.
- Complete this item using the university’s applicant instructions.
SFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirementsSFU current Fall 2026 onwards Computing Science BC/Yukon admission requirements

Applicant pathways

British Columbia or Yukon: SFU General requirements

British Columbia or Yukon high-school applicants to Computing Science, Fall 2026 onwards

You will need to meet SFU’s general admission requirements as these apply to all programs. Faculty and program specific admission requirements are listed separately.
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
Graduate high school
Have a minimum of five approved academic Grade 12 courses, including English Studies 12 or equivalent
Have a minimum grade of 70% or higher in Language Arts 11, English 12, or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved academic Grade 11 and 12 courses, including any specific course requirements set by the faculty or program to which you are applying.
A comprehensive list of approved academic Grade 11 and 12 courses considered in the admission evaluation is available on the Approved Academic courses page.
Equivalent AP or IB courses may be used in place of required courses listed below.

British Columbia or Yukon: Required Courses

British Columbia or Yukon high-school applicants to Computing Science, Fall 2026 onwards

Grade 11
No specific Grade 11 course requirements
Grade 12 (at least 5 approved academic courses)
Equivalent AP or IB courses may be used in place of the following courses.
One of: English Studies 12 English First Peoples 12
At least one of: Anatomy and Physiology 12 (Biology 12) Chemistry 12 Physics 12
At least one of: Pre-Calculus 12 Calculus 12
Additional course(s): See SFU's approved academic course list

Alberta: general academic requirements

Alberta high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved 30-level Courses* (see below), including English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved 20-level and 30-level courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Alberta: Computing Science

Alberta high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English Language Arts 20-1 Mathematics 20-1 or Mathematics 20-2 One of Science 20, Biology 20, Chemistry 20 or Physics 20
Grade 12 required courses: English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) Mathematics 30-1 One of: Biology 30, Chemistry 30 or Physics 30 2 Additional courses from List A or B Mathematics 31 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Language Arts 30-level Languages 30-level Math 30-2 Science 30-level Social Studies 30-level

Manitoba: general academic requirements

Manitoba high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved 40-level Courses , including English Language Arts 40S (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved 30-level and 40-level courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Manitoba: Computing Science

Manitoba high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English Language Arts 30S (any) Pre-Calculus Math 30S or Applied Math 30S One of: Biology 30S, Human Biology 30S, Chemistry 30S, Ecology 30S, Physics 30S
Grade 12 required courses: English Language Arts: Comprehensive Focus 40S, Literary Focus 40S or Transactional Focus 40S (min 70%) Pre-Calculus 40S One of: Biology 40S, Chemistry 40S or Physics 40S Two additional List A or B courses Calculus 42U or 42S (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: 40-Level Language Arts 40-Level Languages Applied Math 40S 40-Level Science 40-Level Social Studies

New Brunswick: general academic requirements

New Brunswick high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved grade 12 Courses , including English 121 or 122 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

New Brunswick: Computing Science

New Brunswick high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English 111 or English 112 One of: Foundations of Math 110 or Pre-Calculus Math 110 One of: Biology 111 or 112, Chemistry 111 or 112, Environmental Science 120, or Physics 111 or 112
Grade 12 required courses: English 121 or 122 (min 70%) Pre-Calculus A120 and Pre-Calculus B120 One of: Biology 121 or 122, Chemistry 121 or 122 or Physics 121 or 122 One additional course from List A or B Calculus 120 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Language Arts 12 Language 12 Foundations of Math 120 Science 12 Social Studies 12

Newfoundland and Labrador: general academic requirements

Newfoundland and Labrador high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved Grade 12 Courses , including English 3201 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Computing Science

Newfoundland and Labrador high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English 2201 One of: Math 2200 or Math 2201 One of: Biology 2200, Chemistry 2202 or Physics 2204
Grade 12 required courses: English 3201 (min 70%) Math 3200 One of: Biology 3200, Chemistry 3203 or Physics 3204 One additional course from List A or B Math 3208 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Science 320X Math 3201 or 3202 Social Studies 320X Language Arts 320X Languages 320X

Northwest Territories: general academic requirements

Northwest Territories high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved 30-level Courses , including English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved 20-level and 30-level courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Northwest Territories: Computing Science

Northwest Territories high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English Language Arts 20-1 Mathematics 20-1 or Mathematics 20-2 One of Science 20, Biology 20, Chemistry 20 or Physics 20
Grade 12 required courses: English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) Mathematics 30-1 One of: Biology 30, Chemistry 30 or Physics 30 One additional course from List A or B Mathematics 31 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Language Arts 30-level Languages 30-level Math 30-2 Science 30-level Social Studies 30-level

Nova Scotia: general academic requirements

Nova Scotia high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved Grade 12 Courses , including English 12 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses

Nova Scotia: Computing Science

Nova Scotia high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English 11 (Academic/Advanced) Math 11 (Academic/Advanced) One of Biology 11 (Academic/Advanced), Chemistry 11 (Academic/Advanced) or Physics 11 (Academic/Advanced)
Grade 12 required courses: English 12 (Academic/Advanced) or African Heritage (min 70%) Math 12 (Academic/Advanced) or Pre-Calculus Mathematics 12 (min 70%) One of: Biology 12 (Advanced/Academic), Chemistry 12 (Advanced/Academic) or Physics 12 (Academic/Advanced) Two additional courses from List A or B Calculus 12 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Science 12 Social Studies 12 Language Arts 12 Language 12

Ontario: general academic requirements

Ontario high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of six (6) Grade 12 U/M courses , including English ENG4U (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Ontario: Computing Science

Ontario high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English ENG3U One of: Functions and Applications MCF3M or Functions MCR3U One of: Biology 11 SBI3U, Chemistry 11 SCH3U, Environmental Science 11 SVN3M, or Physics 11 SPH3U
Grade 12 required courses: English ENG4U (min 70%) Advanced Functions MHF4U One of: Biology SBI4U, Chemistry SCH4U or Physics SPH4U Three additional courses from List A or B Calculus and Vectors MCV4U (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Language 4U/DU Math MDM4U Science 4U/M Social Studies 4U/M

Prince Edward Island: general academic requirements

Prince Edward Island high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved Grade 12 Courses , including English 621 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved Grade 11 and 12 courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Prince Edward Island: Computing Science

Prince Edward Island high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: ENG521 One of: MAT521A or MAT521B or MAT521E One of: BIO521, CHM 521 or PHY 521
Grade 12 required courses: ENG621 or ENG611 (min 70%) MAT621B One of: BIO621A, CHM 621A, CHM 611A or PHY 621A Two additional courses from List A or B MAT611B (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Science 12 Foundations of Math 621A Social Studies 12 Language Arts 12 Language 12

Nunavut: general academic requirements

Nunavut high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved 30-level Courses , including English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) or equivalent
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved 20-level and 30-level courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses.

Nunavut: Computing Science

Nunavut high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English Language Arts 20-1 Mathematics 20-1 or Mathematics 20-2 One of Science 20, Biology 20, Chemistry 20 or Physics 20
Grade 12 required courses: English Language Arts 30-1 (min 70%) Mathematics 30-1 One of: Biology 30, Chemistry 30 or Physics 30 One additional course from List A or B Mathematics 31 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: Language Arts 30-level Languages 30-level Math 30-level Science 30-level Social Studies 30-level

Quebec CEGEP: general academic requirements

CEGEP academic applicants

Complete at least one year of an approved academic programme.
Present at least 12 academic pre-university courses, excluding courses numbered 109, including two English (603) or French (601) courses.
Meet SFU English Language and Quantitative/Analytical Skills requirements.
A completed two-year academic DEC may qualify for up to 30 transfer credits.

Quebec CEGEP: Computing Science

CEGEP applicants to Computing Science

Math (201).
One of Biology (101), Chemistry (202), Physics (203).

Saskatchewan: general academic requirements

Saskatchewan high-school applicants

All required Grade 11 courses (or equivalents)
English language requirement
Quantitative and analytical skills requirement
A minimum of five (5) Approved 30-level Courses , including one of English Language Arts 30, A30, or B30, (min 70%)
Admission is based on an evaluation of all approved 20-level and 30-level courses, with greater emphasis on List A courses

Saskatchewan: Computing Science

Saskatchewan high-school applicants to Computing Science only

Programme: Computing Science 1 Software Systems
Grade 11 required courses: English Language Arts 20 Foundations of Mathematics 20 or Pre-Calculus 20 One of: Computer Science 20 , Environmental Science 20 , Health Science 20 or Physical Science 20
Grade 12 required courses: English Language Arts A30 and B30 (min 70%) Pre-Calculus 30 One of: Biology 30, Chemistry 30 or Physics 30 Two additional courses from List A or B Calculus 30 (recommended)
Approved additional courses and recommendations: 30-Level Language Arts 30-Level Languages Foundations of Math 30 30-Level Science 30-Level Social Studies

Degree requirements

Grades and academic standing

Computing Science Major / Continuation Requirements: Students who do not maintain at least a 2.40 CGPA will be placed on probation within the school. Courses available to probationary students may be limited. Each term, these students must consult an advisor prior to enrollment and must achieve either a term 2.40 term GPA or an improved CGPA. Students who fail to do so may be removed from the program.
Computing Science Major / Continuation Requirements: Reinstatement from probationary standing occurs when the CGPA improves to 2.40 or better and is maintained.
Computing Science Major / Graduation Requirements: A GPA of 2.00 must be obtained for upper division courses used to fulfil the program requirements.
Computing Science Major / Prerequisite Grade Requirement: A minimum 2.40 CGPA is required for 200, 300 and 400 division CMPT courses. For complete information, contact an applied sciences advisor .
Computing Science Major / A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit: Must include at least one upper division course, taken at Simon Fraser University within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each)

References

Required courses and electives

Computing Science Major / Upper Division Requirements: Students complete at least 45 upper division units which must include both of
Computing Science Major / Upper Division Requirements: 30 of these 45 upper division units must be CMPT courses.
Computing Science Major / Breadth Requirement: Four courses from four of the six Table I areas of concentration (see below) must be completed (one of which must be CMPT 307).
Computing Science Major / Depth Requirement: 12 units of CMPT courses numbered CMPT 400 or above must be completed (excluding CMPT 415, 416 and 498, which may be included by special permission).
Computing Science Major / BSc Credential: For a BSc computing science degree, in addition to 30 upper division units in CMPT courses, students must complete
Computing Science Major / BEd Credential: For a major in computing science in conjunction with a BEd program as offered by the Faculty of Education, one additional CMPT course chosen from Table I or Table II must be completed, to total at least 33 upper division units in CMPT courses.
Computing Science Major / BA Credential: One additional CMPT upper division course chosen from Table I or Table II must be completed bringing the total upper division units in CMPT courses to a minimum of 33 units.
Computing Science Major / BA Credential: A concentration of 15 units in a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences discipline (department) including at least six units of upper division units.
Computing Science Major / Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements: Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

References

Credits and degree requirements

Computing Science Major / Areas of Concentration: As part of a major program, students may complete one or more areas of concentration from the six areas listed in Table I. To complete a concentration, students complete the major requirements, including four courses in the corresponding Area as listed in Table I, two of which must be at the 400 division. Courses used to meet the requirements of a concentration may also be used to meet other program requirements.

References

Program facts

Entering average~High 80s to low 90s

Published historical guidance for Canadian, permanent resident and study-permit high school applicants.

Co-opCo-op details

Check work experience options

Majors & specializations

Degree variants, engineering options, streams and concentrations on the selected current calendars.

Artificial Intelligence

BA / BSc

Study artificial intelligence through the concentration’s required computing course set.

Published requirements

Courses

Named required and alternative courses in the exact Fall 2026 degree calendars. The menu includes separate degree options and concentrations; it is not a timetable or a list every student takes.

Computing Science major · named upper-division requirements2 listed

These named courses occur within the major’s upper-division requirements, not an assigned semester. CMPT 307 is part of four courses from four Table I concentration areas. The degree requires 45 upper-division units, including 12 further CMPT units at the 400 level and additional courses to meet the total; the two courses here are not the full requirement.

CMPT 307Data Structures and Algorithms3 credits
Design and analysis of efficient data structures and algorithms. General techniques for building and analyzing algorithms (greedy, divide & conquer, dynamic programming, network flows). Introduction to NP-completeness. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 , ( MACM 201 or CMPT 210 ), ( MATH 150 or MATH 151 ), and ( MATH 232 or MATH 240 ), all with a minimum grade of C-. MATH 154 or MATH 157 with a grade of at least B+ may be substituted for MATH 150 or MATH 151 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 376WProfessional Responsibility and Technical Writing3 credits
Covers professional writing in computing science, including format conventions and technical reports. The basis for ethical decision-making and the methodology for reaching ethical decisions concerning computing matters will be studied. Students will survey and write research papers, and both individual and group work will be emphasized. Prerequisite: CMPT 105W and ( CMPT 275 or CMPT 276 ), with a minimum grade of C-. Writing.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description

Computing Science BSc · additional named requirement1 listed

BSc credential only. Also complete two additional courses from Table I, II or III. The BA has different credential requirements; it is not assigned this BSc-only block.

MACM 316Numerical Analysis I3 credits
A presentation of the problems commonly arising in numerical analysis and scientific computing and the basic methods for their solutions. Prerequisite: MATH 152 or 155 or 158 , and MATH 232 or 240 , and computing experience. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description

Additional published courses

CMPT 105WSocial Issues and Communication Strategies in Computing Science3 credits
This course teaches the fundamentals of informative and persuasive communication for professional engineers and computer scientists. A principal goal of this course is to assist students in thinking critically about various contemporary technical, social, and ethical issues. It focuses on communicating technical information clearly and concisely, managing issues of persuasion when communicating with diverse audiences, presentation skills, and teamwork. Students with credit for ENSC 102, ENSC 105W , MSE 101W or SEE 101W may not take CMPT 105W for further credit. Writing.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 120Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I3 credits
An elementary introduction to computing science and computer programming, suitable for students with little or no programming background. Students will learn fundamental concepts and terminology of computing science, acquire elementary skills for programming in a high-level language, e.g. Python. The students will be exposed to diverse fields within, and applications of computing science. Topics will include: pseudocode; data types and control structures; fundamental algorithms; recursion; reading and writing files; measuring performance of algorithms; debugging tools; basic terminal navigation using shell commands. Treatment is informal and programming is presented as a problem-solving tool. Prerequisite: BC Math 12 or equivalent is recommended. Students with credit for CMPT 102 , 128 , 130 or 166 may not take this course for further credit. Students who have taken CMPT 125 , 129 , 130 or 135 first may not then take this course for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Science.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 125Introduction to Computing Science and Programming II3 credits
A rigorous introduction to computing science and computer programming, suitable for students who already have some background in computing science and programming. Intended for students who will major in computing science or a related program. Topics include: memory management; fundamental algorithms; formally analyzing the running time of algorithms; abstract data types and elementary data structures; object-oriented programming and software design; specification and program correctness; reading and writing files; debugging tools; shell commands. Prerequisite: CMPT 120 or CMPT 130 , with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 126, 129 , 135 or CMPT 200 or higher may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 201Systems Programming4 credits
An introduction to a UNIX-like application-OS interface from a programmer's perspective. Introduces operating systems and their interfaces for user-level programs. Students learn how to programmatically interact with an OS efficiently, correctly, and securely. Topics include: command-line tools, programming with memory, processes, threads, IPC, as well as basics of OS security. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 125 or CMPT 135 ) and MACM 101 , both with a minimum grade of C-. Students who have taken CMPT 300 first may not then take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 210Probability and Computing3 credits
Probability has become an essential tool in modern computer science with applications in randomized algorithms, computer vision and graphics, systems, data analysis, and machine learning. The course introduces the foundational concepts in probability as required by many modern applications in computing. Prerequisite: MACM 101 , MATH 152 , CMPT 125 or CMPT 135 , and ( MATH 240 or MATH 232 ), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 225Data Structures and Programming3 credits
Introduction to a variety of practical and important data structures and methods for implementation and for experimental and analytical evaluation. Topics include: stacks, queues and lists; search trees; hash tables and algorithms; efficient sorting; object-oriented programming; time and space efficiency analysis; and experimental evaluation. Prerequisite: ( MACM 101 and ( CMPT 125 , CMPT 129 or CMPT 135 )) or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 ), all with a minimum grade of C-. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 276Introduction to Software Engineering3 credits
An overview of various techniques used for software development and software project management. Major tasks and phases in modern software development, including requirements, analysis, documentation, design, implementation, testing,and maintenance. Project management issues are also introduced. Students complete a team project using an iterative development process. Prerequisite: One W course, CMPT 225 , ( MACM 101 or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 )) and ( MATH 151 or MATH 150 ), all with a minimum grade of C-. MATH 154 or MATH 157 with at least a B+ may be substituted for MATH 151 or MATH 150 . Students with credit for CMPT 275 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 295Introduction to Computer Systems4 credits
The curriculum introduces students to topics in computer architecture that are considered fundamental to an understanding of the digital systems underpinnings of computer systems. Prerequisite: Either ( MACM 101 and ( CMPT 125 or CMPT 135 )) or ( MATH 151 and CMPT 102 for students in an Applied Physics program), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MACM 101Discrete Mathematics I3 credits
Introduction to graph theory, trees, induction, automata theory, formal reasoning, modular arithmetic. Prerequisite: BC Pre-Calculus 12 or BC Calculus 12 (or equivalent), or any of MATH 100 , 150 , 151 , 154 , 157 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
STAT 271Probability and Statistics for Computing Science3 credits
This is an introductory course in probability and statistics that is designed for Computer Science students. Mainly covers basic probability theory and statistical methods for designing and analyzing computing algorithms and systems. Topics include continuous probability distributions, random variables, multivariate normal distributions, parameter estimation and inference theory, as well as design and analysis of statistical studies, including hypothesis testing and presentation of statistical data. Prerequisite: CMPT 210 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 150Calculus I with Review4 credits
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Topics as for Math 151 with a more extensive review of functions, their properties and their graphs. Recommended for students with no previous knowledge of Calculus. In addition to regularly scheduled lectures, students enrolled in this course are encouraged to come for assistance to the Calculus Workshop (Burnaby), or Math Open Lab (Surrey). Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B+, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B-, or MATH 110 with a grade of at least A-. Students with credit for either MATH 151 , 154 or 157 may not take MATH 150 for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 151Calculus I3 credits
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Logarithmic and exponential functions, trigonometric functions, inverse functions. Limits, continuity, and derivatives. Techniques of differentiation, including logarithmic and implicit differentiation. The Mean Value Theorem. Applications of differentiation including extrema, curve sketching, Newton's method. Introduction to modeling with differential equations. Polar coordinates, parametric curves. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least A, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B, or MATH 110 with a grade of at least A. Students with credit for either MATH 150 , 154 or 157 may not take MATH 151 for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 154Mathematics for the Life Sciences I3 credits
Designed for students specializing in the life sciences. Topics include: limits, growth rate and the derivative; elementary functions, optimization and approximation methods, and their applications, integration, and differential equations; mathematical models of biological processes and their implementation and analysis using software. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least C-, or MATH 110 with a grade of at least C-. Students with credit for either MATH 150 , 151 or 157 may not take MATH 154 for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 157Calculus I for the Social Sciences3 credits
Designed for students specializing in business or the social sciences. Topics include: limits, growth rate and the derivative; logarithmic, exponential and trigonometric functions and their application to business, economics, optimization and approximation methods; introduction to functions of several variables with emphasis on partial derivatives and extrema. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least C, or MATH 110 with a grade of at least C. Students with credit for either MATH 150 , 151 or 154 may not take MATH 157 for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 152Calculus II3 credits
Riemann sum, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, definite, indefinite and improper integrals, approximate integration, integration techniques, applications of integration. First-order separable differential equations and growth models. Sequences and series, series tests, power series, convergence and applications of power series. Prerequisite: MATH 150 or MATH 151 , with a minimum grade of C-; or MATH 154 or MATH 157 , with a minimum grade of B. Students with credit for MATH 155 or MATH 158 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 155Mathematics for the Life Sciences II3 credits
Designed for students specializing in the life sciences. Topics include: vectors and matrices, partial derivatives, multi-dimensional integrals, systems of differential equations, compartment models, graphs and networks, and their applications to the life sciences; mathematical models of multi-component biological processes and their implementation and analysis using software. Students planning to take MATH 251 are recommended to consider MATH 152 as the prerequisite pathway. See an advisor to determine what may be best for you. Prerequisite: MATH 150 , 151 or 154 , with a minimum grade of C-; or MATH 157 with a grade of at least B. Students with credit for MATH 152 or 158 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 158Calculus II for the Social Sciences3 credits
Designed for students specializing in business or the social sciences. Topics include: theory of integration, integration techniques, applications of integration; functions of several variables with emphasis on double and triple integrals and their applications; introduction to differential equations with emphasis on some special first-order equations and their applications; sequences and series. Prerequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or 154 or 157 , with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for MATH 152 or 155 may not take MATH 158 for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 232Applied Linear Algebra3 credits
Linear equations, matrices, determinants. Introduction to vector spaces and linear transformations and bases. Complex numbers. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors; diagonalization. Inner products and orthogonality; least squares problems. An emphasis on applications involving matrix and vector calculations. Prerequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or MACM 101 , with a minimum grade of C-; or MATH 154 or 157 , both with a grade of at least B. Students with credit for MATH 240 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 240Algebra I: Linear Algebra3 credits
Linear equations, matrices, determinants. Real and abstract vector spaces, subspaces and linear transformations; basis and change of basis. Complex numbers. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors; diagonalization. Inner products and orthogonality; least squares problems. Applications. Subject is presented with an abstract emphasis and includes proofs of the basic theorems. Prerequisite: MATH 150 or 151 or MACM 101 , with a minimum grade of C-; or MATH 154 or 157 , both with a grade of at least B. Students are advised to have taken MATH 141. Students with credit for MATH 232 cannot take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 310Introduction to Artificial Intelligence3 credits
Artificial intelligence is an area with vast application scenarios. This course is intended as a prerequisite for advanced-level AI courses and covers the fundamental concepts and foundational mathematical formulations in machine learning and AI. Topics include supervised learning, linear regression, gradient descent, search algorithms, Markov decision processes, and Bayes nets. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and STAT 271 , all with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended: MATH 251 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 340Biomedical Computing3 credits
The principles involved in using computers for data acquisition, real-time processing, pattern recognition and experimental control in biology and medicine will be developed. The use of large data bases and simulation will be explored. Prerequisite: Completion of 60 units including (one of CMPT 125 , 128 or 135 ), MATH 152 and ( MATH 232 or MATH 240 ), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 410Machine Learning3 credits
Machine Learning (ML) is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of machine learning, and covers mathematical foundations, models such as (generalized) linear models, kernel methods and neural networks, loss functions for classification and regression, and optimization methods. Prerequisite: CMPT 310 and MACM 316 , both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 419 under the title "Machine Learning" may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 411Knowledge Representation3 credits
Formal and foundational issues dealing with the representation of knowledge in artificial intelligence systems are covered. Questions of semantics, incompleteness, non-monotonicity and others will be examined. As well, particular approaches, such as procedural or semantic network, may be discussed. Prerequisite: Completion of nine units in Computing Science upper division courses or, in exceptional cases, permission of the instructor.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 413Computational Linguistics3 credits
This course examines the theoretical and applied problems of constructing and modelling systems, which aim to extract and represent the meaning of natural language sentences or of whole discourses, but drawing on contributions from the fields of linguistics, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence and computing science. Prerequisite: Completion of nine units in Computing Science upper division courses or, in exceptional cases, permission of the instructor.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 417Intelligent Systems3 credits
Intelligent Systems using modern constraint programming and heuristic search methods. A survey of this rapidly advancing technology as applied to scheduling, planning, design and configuration. An introduction to constraint programming, heuristic search, constructive (backtrack) search, iterative improvement (local) search, mixed-initiative systems and combinatorial optimization. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 419Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence3 credits
Current topics in artificial intelligence depending on faculty and student interest.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 420Deep Learning3 credits
In machine learning, many recent successes have been achieved using neural networks with several layers, so-called deep neural networks. Convolutional neural nets, autoencoders, recurrent neural nets, long-short term memory networks, and generative adversarial networks will be presented. Students will look at techniques for training them from data, and applications. Prerequisite: CMPT 310 , CMPT 410 or CMPT 419 (Machine Learning), both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 728 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 361Introduction to Visual Computing3 credits
Provides a unified introduction to the fundamentals of computer graphics and computer vision (visual computing). Topics include graphics pipelines, sampling and aliasing, geometric transformations, projection and camera models, meshing, texturing, color theory, image filtering and registration, shading and illumination, raytracing, rasterization, animation, optical flow, and game engines. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( STAT 271 or ENSC 280 ), both with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended: MATH 251 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 363User Interface Design3 credits
Builds on the fundamental concepts of human-computer interaction (HCI) and user interface design taught in the prerequisite course ( CMPT 263 ), including usability and iterative user-centered design. The teaching format is studio-based, where students acquire hands-on experience by engaging in term-long projects on designing, implementing, and evaluating interactive computer systems. Students apply HCI concepts to real-world scenarios while exploring advanced and specialized topics such as emerging interaction paradigms, human-AI interaction, ubiquitous computing, the social impact of HCI, and inclusive design. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and CMPT 263 , both with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 365Multimedia Systems3 credits
Multimedia systems design, multimedia hardware and software, issues in effectively representing, processing, and retrieving multimedia data such as text, graphics, sound and music, image and video. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 412Computer Vision3 credits
Computational approaches to image and video understanding in relation to theories, the operation of the human visual system, and practical application areas such as robotics. Topics include image classification, object detection, image segmentation based mostly on deep neural network and to some extent classical techniques, and 3D reconstruction. Also covers state-of-the-art deep neural architectures for computer vision applications, such as metric learning, generative adversarial networks, and recurrent neural networks. Prerequisite: CMPT 361 and MATH 152 , both with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 461Computational Photography and Image Manipulation3 credits
Computational photography is concerned with overcoming the limitations of traditional photography with computation: in optics, sensors, and geometry; and even in composition, style, and human interfaces. The course covers computational techniques to improve the way we process, manipulate, and interact with visual media. The covered topics include intrinsic decomposition, monocular depth estimation, edit propagation, camera geometry and optics, computational apertures, advanced image filtering operations, high-dynamic range, image blending, texture synthesis and inpainting. Prerequisite: CMPT 361 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 464Geometric Modelling in Computer Graphics3 credits
Covers advanced topics in geometric modelling and processing for computer graphics, such as Bezier and B-spline techniques, subdivision curves and surfaces, solid modelling, implicit representation, surface reconstruction, multi-resolution modelling, digital geometry processing (e.g. mesh smoothing, compression, and parameterization), point-based representation, and procedural modelling. Prerequisite: CMPT 361 , MACM 316 , both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 469 between 2003 and 2007 or equivalent may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 466Animation3 credits
Topics and techniques in animation, including: The history of animation, computers in animation, traditional animation approaches, and computer animation techniques such as geometric modelling, interpolation, camera controls, kinematics, dynamics, constraint-based animation, realistic motion, temporal aliasing, digital effects and post production. Prerequisite: CMPT 361 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 467Visualization3 credits
Presents advanced topics in the field of data visualization. Topics include an introduction to visualization (importance and common approaches), visualization concepts, interactive visualizations, visualization methodologies including comprehension, perception, evaluation, as well as application areas such as medical, scientific, business and personal. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended: CMPT 263 and CMPT 363 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 469Special Topics in Computer Graphics3 credits
Current topics in computer graphics depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 361 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 303Operating Systems3 credits
A course teaching the internals of modern operating systems. Topics consist of kernel components of modern OSes, such as system calls, device drivers, virtual memory, scheduling, file systems, synchronization for multi-core, and memory ordering. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 , ( CMPT 295 or ENSC 254 ), and ( CMPT 201 or ENSC 351 ), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 305Computer Simulation and Modelling3 credits
An introduction to the modelling, analysis, and computer simulation of complex systems. Topics include analytic modelling, discrete event simulation, experimental design, random number generation, and statistical analysis. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 , ( MACM 101 or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 )) and ( STAT 270 or STAT 271 ), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 371Data Communications and Networking3 credits
Data communication fundamentals (data types, rates, and transmission media). Network architectures for local and wide areas. Communications protocols suitable for various architectures. ISO protocols and internetworking. Performance analysis under various loadings and channel error rates. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( MATH 151 or MATH 150 ), with a minimum grade of C-. MATH 154 or MATH 157 with a grade of at least B+ may be substituted for MATH 151 ( MATH 150 ).
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 379Principles of Compiler Design3 credits
This course covers the key components of a compiler for a high level programming language. Topics include lexical analysis, parsing, type checking, code generation and optimization. Students will work in teams to design and implement an actual compiler making use of tools such as lex and yacc. Prerequisite: ( MACM 201 or CMPT 210 ), ( CMPT 295 or ENSC 254 ) and CMPT 225 , all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 403System Security and Privacy3 credits
Starting from cybersecurity principles, students will learn to protect systems from attacks on data confidentiality, integrity, system availability, and user privacy. By modeling system security, students will learn to find weaknesses in software, hardware, networks, data storage systems, and the Internet, and identify current security practices to protect these systems. Prerequisite: CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 , with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 431Distributed Systems3 credits
An introduction to distributed systems: systems consisting of multiple physical components connected over a network. Architectures of such systems, ranging from client-server to peer-to-peer. Distributed systems are analyzed via case studies of real network file systems, replicated systems, sensor networks and peer-to-peer systems. Hands-on experience designing and implementing a complex distributed system. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 ) and CMPT 371 , both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 401 before September 2008 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 433Embedded Systems3 credits
The basics of embedded system organization, hardware-software co-design, and programmable chip technologies are studied. Formal models and specification languages for capturing and analyzing the behaviour of embedded systems. The design and use of tools for system partitioning and hardware/software co-design implementation, validation, and verification are also studied. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 ) and CMPT 295 , both with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 450Computer Architecture3 credits
Principles of the architecture of computing systems. Topics include: superscalar processor micro-architecture, speculative execution, cache and memory hierarchy, multiprocessors, cache coherence, memory consistency, implications of technology on architecture, parallel architectures (multi-threading, GPUs, vector processors). Prerequisite: CMPT 295 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 471Networking II3 credits
This course covers the fundamentals of higher level network functionality such as remote procedure/object calls, name/address resolution, network file systems, network security and high speed connectivity/bridging/switching. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 ) and CMPT 371 , both with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 479Special Topics in Computing Systems3 credits
Current topics in computing systems depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 , with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 499Special Topics in Computer Hardware3 credits
Current topics in computer hardware depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 250 or ENSC 250, with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 353Computational Data Science3 credits
Basic concepts and programming tools for handling and processing data. Includes data acquisition, cleaning data sources, application of machine learning techniques and data analysis techniques, large-scale computation on a computing cluster. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( BUS 232 , STAT 201 , STAT 203 , STAT 205 , STAT 270 , STAT 271 , ENSC 280 , MSE 210 , or SEE 241 ), with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 354Database Systems I3 credits
Logical representations of data records. Data models. Studies of some popular file and database systems. Document retrieval. Other related issues such as database administration, data dictionary and security. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( MACM 101 or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 )), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 362Mobile Applications Programming and Design3 credits
Teaches students how to design and implement smartphone applications. Topics include development environment, phone emulator, key programming paradigms, UI design including views, fragments, and activities, data persistence, threads, services, embedded sensors, and location based services (e.g., Google Maps). Concepts are reinforced through programming assignments and group projects. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for IAT 359 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 372Web II - Server-side Development3 credits
Introduces students to the fundamentals of server-side web development. Students will gain experience working with backend web frameworks, designing and implementing web APIs, and deploying web systems. Students will be introduced to popular back-end frameworks. The course will focus on the design, creating, implementation, and deployment of backend systems, including APIs. Prerequisite: CMPT 272 and CMPT 225 , both with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 470 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 441Computational Biology3 credits
This course introduces students to the computing science principles underlying computational biology. The emphasis is on the design, analysis and implementation of computational techniques. Possible topics include algorithms for sequence alignment, database searching, gene finding, phylogeny and structure analysis. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for CMPT 341 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 454Database Systems II3 credits
An advanced course on database systems which covers crash recovery, concurrency control, transaction processing, distributed database systems as the core material and a set of selected topics based on the new developments and research interests, such as object-oriented data models and systems, extended relational systems, deductive database systems, and security and integrity. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 201 or CMPT 300 or ENSC 351 ) and CMPT 354 , both with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 456Information Retrieval and Web Search3 credits
Introduction to the essentials of information retrieval and the applications of information retrieval in web search and web information systems. Topics include the major models of information retrieval, similarity search, text content search, link structures and web graphics, web mining and applications, crawling, search engines, and some advanced topics such as spam detection, online advertisement, and fraud detection in online auctions. Prerequisite: CMPT 354 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 459Special Topics in Database Systems3 credits
Current topics in database and information systems depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 354 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 474Web Systems Architecture3 credits
Web service based systems are fundamentally different from traditional software systems. The conceptual and methodological differences between a standard software development process and the development of a web service based information system. The technology involved during the construction of their own web service based application in an extensive project. Prerequisite: CMPT 371 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 373Software Development Methods3 credits
Survey of modern software development methodology. Several software development process models will be examined, as will the general principles behind such models. Provides experience with different programming paradigms and their advantages and disadvantages during software development. Prerequisite: CMPT 276 or 275 , with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 383Comparative Programming Languages3 credits
Various concepts and principles underlying the design and use of modern programming languages are considered in the context of procedural, object-oriented, functional and logic programming languages. Topics include data and control structuring constructs, facilities for modularity and data abstraction, polymorphism, syntax, and formal semantics. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( MACM 101 or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 )), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 384Symbolic Computing3 credits
This course considers modelling and programming techniques appropriate for symbolic data domains such as mathematical expressions, logical formulas, grammars and programming languages. Topics include recursive and functional programming style, grammar-based data abstraction, simplification and reduction transformations, conversions to canonical form, environment data structures and interpreters, metaprogramming, pattern matching and theorem proving. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 and ( MACM 101 or ( ENSC 251 and ENSC 252 )), all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 473Software Testing, Reliability and Security3 credits
Methods for software quality assurance focusing on reliability and security. Test coverage and test data adequacy including combinatorial testing. MC/DC testing, and mutation testing. Security engineering techniques for vulnerability discovery and mitigation including fuzz testing. Testing techniques will be applied to the assessment of external open source software. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 275 or CMPT 276 ) with a minimum grade of C- and 15 upper division CMPT units.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 475Requirements Engineering3 credits
Software succeeds when it is well-matched to its intended purpose. Requirements engineering is the process of discovering that purpose by making requirements explicit and documenting them in a form amenable to analysis, reasoning, and validation, establishing the key attributes of a system prior to its construction. Students will learn methodical approaches to requirements analysis and design specification in early systems development phases, along with best practices and common principles to cope with notoriously changing requirements. Prerequisite: CMPT 275 or CMPT 276 , ( MACM 201 or CMPT 210 ) , all with a minimum grade of C- and 15 units of upper division courses. Recommended: Co-op experience.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 477Introduction to Formal Verification3 credits
Introduces, at an accessible level, a formal framework for symbolic model checking, one of the most important verification methods. The techniques are illustrated with examples of verification of reactive systems and communication protocols. Students learn to work with a model checking tool. Prerequisite: CMPT 275 or 276 , with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 489Special Topics in Programming Languages3 credits
Current topics in programming languages depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 383 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 308Computability and Complexity3 credits
Formal models of computation such as automata and Turing machines. Decidability and undecidability. Recursion Theorem. Connections between computability and logic (Gödel’s Incompleteness). Time and space complexity classes. NP-completeness. Prerequisite: ( MACM 201 or CMPT 210 ) with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 404Cryptography and Cryptographic Protocols3 credits
The main cryptographic tools and primitives, their use in cryptographic applications; security and weaknesses of the current protocols. The notion of security, standard encryption schemes, digital signatures, zero-knowledge, selected other topics. Prerequisite: ( MACM 201 or CMPT 210 ) with a minimum grade of C-. CMPT 307 and 308 are recommended.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 405Design and Analysis of Computing Algorithms3 credits
Models of computation, methods of algorithm design; complexity of algorithms; algorithms on graphs, NP-completeness, approximation algorithms, selected topics. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 406Computational Geometry3 credits
Mathematical preliminaries; convex hull algorithms; intersection problems; closest-point problems and their applications. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 407Computational Complexity3 credits
Study of what is, and is not, efficiently computable with limited resources (time, space, randomness, parallelism, nondeterminism, interaction, and quantum). Complexity classes and connections among them. Interplay between complexity and algorithm design. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 with a minimum grade of C-. CMPT 308 is recommended.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 409Special Topics in Theoretical Computing Science3 credits
Current topics in theoretical computing science depending on faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 476Introduction to Quantum Algorithms3 credits
An introductory treatment of quantum computing with an emphasis on quantum algorithms. Topics include the gate model of quantum computation focusing on the design and implementation of quantum algorithms. Basic knowledge of algorithms and complexity will be an asset, but not required. No prior knowledge of physics or quantum mechanics is necessary, only a solid background in linear algebra. Prerequisite: MATH 232 or MATH 240 , with a minimum grade of C-. Students with credit for MACM 476 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MACM 300Introduction to Formal Languages and Automata with Applications3 credits
Languages, grammars, automata and their applications to natural and formal language processing. Prerequisite: MACM 201 .
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MACM 401Introduction to Computer Algebra3 credits
Data structures and algorithms for mathematical objects. Topics include long integer arithmetic, computing polynomial greatest common divisors, the fast Fourier transform, Hensel's lemma and p-adic methods, differentiation and simplification of formulae, and polynomial factorization. Students will use a computer algebra system such as Maple for calculations and programming. Prerequisite: CMPT 307 or (( MATH 340 or MATH 342 ) and ( CMPT 225 or MACM 204 )).
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MACM 442Cryptography3 credits
An introduction to the subject of modern cryptography. Classical methods for cryptography and how to break them, the data encryption standard (DES), the advanced encryption standard (AES), the RSA and ElGammal public key cryptosystems, digital signatures, secure hash functions and pseudo-random number generation. Algorithms for computing with long integers including the use of probabilistic algorithms. Prerequisite: ( CMPT 201 or 225 ) and one of ( MATH 340 or 332 or 342 ); or CMPT 405 . Students with credit for MACM 498 between Fall 2003 and Spring 2006 may not take this course for further credit.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 308Linear Optimization3 credits
Linear programming modelling. The simplex method and its variants. Duality theory. Post-optimality analysis. Applications and software. Additional topics may include: game theory, network simplex algorithm, and convex sets. Prerequisite: MATH 150 , 151 , 154 , or 157 and MATH 240 or 232 , all with a minimum grade of C-.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 340Algebra II: Rings and Fields3 credits
The integers, fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Equivalence relations, modular arithmetic. Univariate polynomials, unique factorization. Rings and fields. Units, zero divisors, integral domains. Ideals, ring homomorphisms. Quotient rings, the ring isomorphism theorem. Chinese remainder theorem. Euclidean, principal ideal, and unique factorization domains. Field extensions, minimal polynomials. Classification of finite fields. Prerequisite: MATH 240 with a minimum grade of C- or MATH 232 with a grade of at least B. Students with credit for MATH 332 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
MATH 343Applied Discrete Mathematics3 credits
Structures and algorithms, generating elementary combinatorial objects, counting (integer partitions, set partitions, Catalan families), backtracking algorithms, branch and bound, heuristic search algorithms. Prerequisite: MACM 201 with a minimum grade of C-. Recommended: Knowledge of a programming language.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 318Special Topics in Computing Science3 credits
Special topics in computing science at the 300 level. Topics that are of current interest or are not covered in regular curriculum will be offered from time to time depending on availability of faculty and student interest. Prerequisite: CMPT 225 with a minimum grade of C-. Additional prerequisites to be determined by the instructor subject to approval by the undergraduate program chair.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 415Special Research Projects3 credits
To be individually arranged. Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor and School.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 416Special Research Projects3 credits
To be individually arranged. Prerequisite: Permission of the department.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 496Directed Studies3 credits
Independent study in topics selected in consultation with the supervising instructor(s) that are not covered by existing course offerings. Students must submit a proposal to the undergraduate chair, including the name and signature of the supervising faculty member(s). The proposal must include details of the material to be covered and the work to be submitted. Prerequisite: Students must have completed 90 units, including 15 units of upper division CMPT courses, and have a GPA of at least 3.00. The proposal must be submitted to the undergraduate chair at least 15 days in advance of the term. The proposal must be signed by the supervisor(s) and the undergraduate chair.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 497Dual Degree Program Capstone Project6 credits
Students will select one project to be completed in their final year of study. Each student must complete a project report and make a project presentation. The project may include: a research survey, a project implementation, a research paper/report. Prerequisite: Submission of a satisfactory capstone project proposal.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description
CMPT 498Honours Research Project6 credits
Students must submit a proposal to the Undergraduate Chair, including the name and signature of the supervising faculty member(s). Students must complete a project report and make a project presentation. This course can satisfy the research project requirements for Computing Science honours students. Prerequisite: Students must have completed 90 units, including 15 units of upper division CMPT courses, and have a GPA of at least 3.00. The proposal must be submitted to the Undergraduate Chair at least 15 days in advance of the term. The proposal must be signed by the supervisor(s) and the undergraduate chair.
SFU Fall 2026 official course description

Elective choices

Computing Science Major / Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements: Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

Study routes

Degree variants, engineering options, streams and concentrations on the selected current calendars.

Computing Science Major
Table I – Computing Science Concentrations

Study locations

Locations of published Fall 2026 sections: Burnaby, Surrey. Locations are observed among the named courses’ Fall 2026 sections. This is a term-specific record, not every required class or a future timetable.SFU Fall 2026 exact degree calendar: published course sections