How to Structure a Canadian University Essay (Without Sounding Generic)

Canadian university essays sit somewhere between British formality and American directness. Get the structure wrong and even strong ideas lose grades. Get it right and a mid-tier argument looks polished.

Start with a one-sentence thesis you could text to a friend. If you can't compress your argument into a sentence, your argument isn't ready.

Every body paragraph should follow the same skeleton: a claim, evidence from a peer-reviewed source, an analysis sentence, and a transition.

Use Canadian English spelling - "behaviour", "organisation", "analyse" - unless your professor specifies otherwise. It signals attention to context.

Close with a conclusion that does one new thing: zoom out, acknowledge a limit, or propose a future angle. Never restate the intro verbatim.