Nigerians living in Canada may soon be able to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination without flying home, following an announcement by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board that it intends to open a UTME centre in Ottawa from 2027.
JAMB made the disclosure in a statement on its official social media platforms, issued after a visit by its Registrar, Prof. Segun Aina, to the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa. The board said the proposed centre would begin operations in 2027.
According to the board, the centre would serve eligible Nigerians in Canada and other parts of North America, particularly those seeking admission into Nigerian tertiary institutions. It said the arrangement would spare diaspora candidates the cost and stress of travelling to Nigeria solely to write the examination.
The plan took shape during discussions between Aina and Nigeria’s Ambassador to Canada, Prof. Isaac Adewale, at the High Commission. JAMB described the initiative as part of a wider effort it summed up as taking Nigerian tertiary education to the world, adding that the centre would strengthen ties between Nigerians abroad and the home education system.
The announcement is not the board’s first move beyond Nigeria’s borders. JAMB already conducts the UTME in several countries, among them the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, The Gambia and Côte d’Ivoire. Ottawa, if it opens as planned, would mark the board’s first examination centre in North America.
The context explains the direction. These overseas centres have historically clustered in parts of Africa, Europe and the Gulf where large Nigerian student and worker communities already exist. North America, despite a sizeable Nigerian population, has not had a dedicated UTME location, which has meant candidates there either travelled to Nigeria or sat the examination at the nearest foreign centre on another continent.
The timing also fits a broader set of changes under the current registrar. Aina, a professor of computer engineering, took over from Prof. Is-haq Oloyede at the end of July 2026, and the board has since announced a run of reforms aimed at easing registration and widening access. These include a National Digital Pre-Registration App to let candidates handle preparatory steps from their phones before visiting an accredited centre, and a stated plan to introduce critical thinking and life skills into the examination from 2027.
For families in the diaspora, the practical appeal is cost. A return trip to Nigeria for a single examination can run into hundreds of thousands of naira once flights, accommodation and local transport are added, a sum that often rivals or exceeds the tuition that admission would eventually attract. A local centre removes that hurdle, at least for candidates within reach of Ottawa.
How far that convenience will extend remains to be seen. JAMB has framed the Ottawa centre as serving candidates across North America, a region that spans Canada, the United States and, more loosely, Mexico and the Caribbean. For a candidate in, say, Houston or Vancouver, a trip to Ottawa still involves meaningful travel, though far less than a journey to Lagos or Abuja. The board has not yet published details on capacity, examination dates for the centre, or whether additional North American locations are under consideration.
Several operational questions are also still open. The board has not stated the fee structure for candidates writing in Canada, which has typically differed from the domestic rate at its other foreign centres. Nor has it confirmed the physical venue in Ottawa, the body that will supervise the examination locally, or the registration process diaspora candidates will follow. These are the kinds of details that usually firm up closer to a registration window, and 2027 registration in Nigeria is itself expected to open in the first quarter of the year.
What is confirmed at this stage is the intention and the target year. The board has said clearly that it is working towards an Ottawa centre expected to start in 2027, and that the plan followed the registrar’s engagement at the High Commission. Everything beyond that, including the final go-ahead, the venue and the terms for candidates, falls into the category of arrangements still being worked out.
The move carries a symbolic weight beyond the logistics. Nigeria’s universities have long competed for diaspora students against institutions in the candidates’ countries of residence, and the easier it is to enter the Nigerian admission pipeline from abroad, the stronger that competition becomes. Whether a single centre in Ottawa materially shifts those numbers will depend on uptake, pricing and how smoothly the first cycle runs.
For now, the announcement signals ambition more than a finished arrangement. The real test will come when registration details for the 2027 cycle are released and the board confirms whether the Ottawa centre is ready to admit its first candidates.