Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Scholarship Overview

• The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) was launched in 2008 by the Government of Canada to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global center of excellence in research and higher learning.
• Vanier Scholars display a high standard of academic achievement in graduate studies, as well as leadership skills.

Host School(s)

• Any Canadian Institution that has a Vanier CGS quota.

Field(s) of Study

• Doctoral studies in social sciences and humanities, natural sciences, and/or engineering and health

What does the scholarship cover?

• $50,000 per year.

How many scholarships are given?

• Up to 166 scholarships are awarded every year.

Which countries are targeted?

• Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada, and foreign citizens.

Am I Eligible to Apply?

To qualify for this scholarship, you must:

• be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which should have received a Vanier CGS quota;
• be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including a joint graduate research program such as MD/Ph.D., DVM/Ph.D., and JD/Ph.D. – if it has a demonstrated and significant research component). Note that only the Ph.D. portion of a combined degree is eligible for funding;
• intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral (or a joint graduate research program such as MD/Ph.D., DVM/Ph.D., JD/Ph.D.) studies and research at the nominating institution;
• have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program as of May 1, 2025;
• have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program subject to the program’s terms and conditions;
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your institution, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent;
• not currently hold or have held a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), or Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

How Do I Apply – Next Steps

• To apply for a Vanier CGS, you must apply through the Canadian institution to which you are applying for doctoral studies. Based on their quotas, Canadian institutions will forward a limited number of nominations to the Vanier CGS program.
• Those wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the institution to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS quota. They must then inform the institution that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.
• Candidates can only be nominated by the institution at which they want to study. Candidates cannot apply directly to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program.
• Applications for Vanier CGS are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline (set in ResearchNet by the nominating institution) using the ResearchNet application system.
• The nominating institution performs the internal candidate selection process, and then notifies candidates if their application is not selected for nomination to the Secretariat. The timing for this notification may vary by institution.
• After this, the nominating institution forwards recommended nominations to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat by October 30, 2024 (20:00 Eastern Time). This Secretariat coordinates the review process and then presents the recommendations to the Tri-agency Programs (TAP) Steering Committee, which endorses and approves final decisions for the Vanier CGS program.
• Nominated candidates will be notified of the competition results in April 2025.

NOTE:

• Read the Selection Committee Guide before starting the application process. This guide lists the three evaluation criteria and has useful information on how these criteria are evaluated.
• To be considered eligible for funding, you must attain an average score of at least 3.1 in each of the three criteria.

Selection Criteria

1. Academic Excellence
2. Research Potential
3. Leadership (Potential and Demonstrated Ability)

Closing Date

• 30 October 2024

How do I get more information?

• Website: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships