If you are a fully-funded graduate student, the university requires that you apply for at least one external award if you are in Years 1 to 3 of your PhD program.  It is highly encouraged but not required to apply for external awards in your 4th year.

Common external awards include, but are not limited to ...

• the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS);

• the Social Science & Humanities Research Council Canadian Graduate Scholarship OR Doctoral Fellowship (SSHRC);

• Vanier Scholarship;

• Trudeau Scholarship;

Even though the requirement to apply for external awards, in our opinion, should not be mandatory, the process can provide some benefits, which include:

• helping you clarify your focus and research design in a concise way (you only have one page to describe your research project for OGS, and 2 pages for SSHRC)

• helping you get practice at applying for grants (which are unfortunately a part of academic life)

• gaining confidence if you receive a scholarship/award

• not having to apply for GAs, RAs, TAs etc. if you receive a scholarship award

OGS has the least intensive application form and is often given to students who appear to have strong potential as researchers. SSHRC's Canadian Graduate Scholarship (CGS-D) and Doctoral Fellowship are very competitive and require detailed applications. Recipients of CGS-D and doctoral fellowships often have very clear and concise two-page proposals as well as strong reference letters. SSHRC puts emphasis on very promising research. In other words, you could have a very strong CV and reference letters, but if your program of study (2 page description of your project) is vague, you are unlikely to receive the award. Vanier and Trudeau are even more competitive than SSHRC and OGS. Both scholarships require a considerable amount of preparation, as well as demonstrated leadership experience (often on a national level). You can find more information about each of these awards, as well as student tips on the following pages.

Domestic Students can apply for all these awards. Unfortunately, international students can only apply for OGS and Vanier. We find this funding practice problematic and strongly advise the university to create more funding opportunities for non-Canadian students and those without Permanent Residence (PR).