Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program 2025 (up to $50,000)

The Government of Canada launched the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) program in 2008 to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning.

Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health. Up to 166 scholarships are awarded annually. A total of up to 500 scholarships are active at any time.

Scholarship

• The scholarship is valued at $50,000 per year for three years during doctoral studies.

Eligibility for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS.

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

• be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota;
• be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including joint program such as MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, or JD/PhD, MBA/PhD – if it has a demonstrated and significant research component);
• 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/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) studies and research at the nominating institution; For joint graduate research programs, only the PhD portion of the program is eligible for funding.
• have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program as of May 1, 2025;
  • The doctoral program would begin after the completion of a master’s degree. The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
• have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program (i.e., joint graduate research program, directly from bachelor’s, previously enrolled without obtaining master’s degree, transferring or withdrew from program), by May 1, 2025 if:
  • enrolled in a joint graduate research program, e.g., MD/PhD, MA/PhD, MS/PhD, DVM/PhD. Applicants in this category have access to the 32-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a master’s program:
    • The months of study are calculated starting from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in the joint graduate program. (For MA/PhD or MS/PhD, this will be the master’s registration date).
  • enrolled directly from a bachelor’s to a PhD program (without having been previously enrolled in another graduate program);
    • The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
  • previously enrolled in a master’s program without obtaining the degree, transferring or withdrawing from the program and subsequently starting a doctoral program.
    • The months of study completed are calculated from the original master’s enrolment date.
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your institution, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent. Candidates are encouraged to contact the institution for its definition of a first-class average; and
  • Note: Institutions may, at their discretion, accept Vanier CGS applications from individuals who have not obtained a first-class average; contact your proposed host institutions to determine their use of this eligibility criterion.
• cannot have already received a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

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Selection Criteria of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Nominations are evaluated and selected based on the following three criteria, weighted equally:

• Academic Excellence
• Research Potential
• Leadership (Potential and Demonstrated Ability)

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Application

A complete Vanier CGS application package includes:

• ResearchNet application form (includes two letters of reference, each with three sections)
• CCV (limited entries; see Completing the Common CV (CCV) for complete information)
• research contributions (maximum one page)
• personal leadership statement (maximum 2 pages for English applications; maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications)
• special circumstances (maximum 1.0 page, optional)
• two leadership letters of reference (maximum 2 pages)
• research proposal (maximum 2 pages for English applications; maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications)
• project references (maximum 5 pages)
• transcripts

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