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External Funding

In addition to these University sources of support, students are encouraged to apply to external sources. The School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies provides additional regularly updated information on all provincial and national scholarship opportunities as well as competition timelines and deadlines.

Each year, SGPS holds information sessions to assist students with their external scholarship applications, and to answer any questions they might have about the national and provincial awards. All sessions are held in the International and Graduate Affairs Building - Suite 1N07.

External Scholarships Timeline & Deadlines 2026-27 Competitions

Name of Award Competition Opens Dept. Workshop (1:30pm)
 Dept. Deadline SGPS Deadline
NSERC July 8, 2025 TBD September 22,  2025 @ 8:00pm, EST September 22, 2025 @ 8:00pm, EST
SSHRCD/OGS July 8, 2025 September 12, 2025 September 22, 2025 @ 8:00pm, EST September 22,2025 @ 8:00pm, EST
CGSM/OGS September 1, 2025 November 14, 2025 December 1, 2025 @ 8:00pm, EST December 1, 2025 @ 8:00pm, EST

 

Students are encouraged to consult the awards office of their current university for additional information on fellowships, grants, and awards.

External Funding


The federal Tri-Agency scholarships, and the provincial Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST), are the largest scholarship programs that support graduate students at Western.

As both are merit-based scholarships, with similar award criteria, we have streamlined the processes into one application to reduce duplication, increase efficiencies, and optimize student potential – the Tri-Agency scholarship application is the vehicle that will allow graduate students to also be considered for the OGS/QEII-GSST.

The OGS/QEII-GSST application at Western no longer exists. The result of the Tri-Agency scholarship application will determine whether students can be awarded an OGS/QEII-GSST.
Please refer to the SGPS website for more information on the Ontario Graduate Scholarships.


The Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral Program (CGS D) and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships-Doctoral Program (PGS D) provide financial support to high calibre scholars who are engaged in doctoral research in the natural sciences and engineering. Please refer to the SGPS website for more information on the NSERC Scholarships guidelines and application process.


Provides funding at the PhD and Post-Doctoral Level, as well as funding for faculty research. Doctoral Students: If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, have completed or are about to complete a master's degree or a bachelor's degree in the humanities or social sciences, or are already pursuing a PhD or equivalent or a combined MA/PhD, you may be eligible to apply for a doctoral award.  Post-doctoral Researchers: If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, have recently completed or will soon complete a PhD or equivalent in the social sciences or humanities, and do not hold a tenured or tenure-track faculty position, you may be eligible to apply to the following programs. You can find more information on the SSHRC Doctoral Awards on the SGPS website.

Provides funding at the Masters Level for research in Social Sciences and Humanities as well as Natural Sciences. If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, have completed or are about to complete a bachelor's degree, or are already pursuing a master's degree, you may be eligible to apply for a master's scholarship.  You can find more information on the CGSM Awards on the SGPS website.

The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both superior leadership skills and an outstanding record of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and/or humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health. International and domestic candidates are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS. Nominations must respect the two primary aims of the Vanier CGS Program: International Recruitment – in order to build strong brand recognition for the Vanier CGS comparable to the world’s most valuable, prestigious, and sought-after awards, universities are strongly urged to strengthen their efforts to nominate new foreign candidates Student Mobility – in an effort to support students who choose to broaden their research horizons and seek new challenges, the Vanier CGS program strongly encourages candidates to pursue their studies beyond the university that granted their undergraduate and/or graduate degrees. More information on the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships can be found on the SGPS website.

The Mitacs Globalink Research Awards program provides funding to support senior undergraduate and graduate student research projects abroad. The program is open to all disciplines and provides an opportunity for faculty at Canadian universities to strengthen existing international research collaborations and connect with colleagues around the world through the mobility of students in Mitacs partner countries: Brazil, mainland China, India, Mexico and Vietnam. More information about the Mitacs Globalink Research Awards can be found on the SGPS website.

The Mitacs Accelerate program provides funding to support flexible, collaborative research projects with not-for-profit organizations in Canada, and for-profit companies in Canada and globally. More information about the Mitacs Accelerate program can be found on the SGPS website.

Society for American Archaeology (SAA) has been dedicated to research about and interpretation and protection of the archaeological heritage of the Americas. More information about the Society for American Archaeology Graduate Awards and Scholarships can be found on the their website.