The examination is chaired by the student's Supervisor. In addition to the Supervisor, the Examination Committee must include 2 other tenure/tenure track faculty members, at least one of whom is not part of the supervisory committee. Additional faculty members can be added to the Examination Committee at the request of the supervisor.

The MSc or MASc candidate must schedule the date of the defence in consultation with the supervisor and other members of the Examination Committee.

At least fourteen (14) days before the scheduled defence the candidate must:

• Give each examiner a copy of the complete thesis.
• Ask the Graduate Secretary to post a notice of defence.

The examination comprises:

• A 20-30 minute presentation by the student to an open audience,
• A period of questions from the examiners and other members of the audience,
• A period of in-camera questioning by the Examining Committee and other interested faculty,
• Adjudication by the Examining Committee based on the thesis document, the oral presentation and the candidate's ability to defend the thesis.

Chair reports results (Pass or Fail) to candidate and submits the Master's Thesis Defence Form to the Graduate Secretary.