University of Toronto 2025 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

The current Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (results released in mid-April 2025) will be the final competitions for these programs.
The Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering and Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) are working to offer a harmonized and streamlined suite of research training support programs that are responsive to the needs of the research community. We anticipate that more details about these programs will become available later this year.

The Vanier CGS program aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health. The Vanier CGS program strongly encourages candidates to pursue their studies beyond the university that granted their previous degree(s).

• Table of Content
• About University of Toronto
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
• Aim and Benefits of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
• Requirements for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
• Documents Required for Application
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About University of Toronto

Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto has evolved into Canada’s leading institution of learning, discovery and knowledge creation. We are proud to be one of the world’s top research-intensive universities, driven to invent and innovate.

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Aim and Benefits of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Scholarship value: $50,000 per year for three years

Requirements for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Qualification

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, applicants must:

• Be nominated by only one Canadian university, which has received a Vanier CGS quota;
• Be pursuing their first doctoral degree (including joint program such as MD/PhD, DVM/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 programs, only the PhD portion of the program is eligible for funding
• Have completed no more than:
  • 20 months of full-time study in their 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.
    • All prior doctoral-level studies that started in Canada or abroad are considered in the evaluation of eligibility. Note: students registered in a “Direct Entry PhD” program at U of T who previously completed a master’s degree in any program would fall under the 20-month category.
  • 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral 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:
      • For joint graduate research programs in which a master’s degree is obtained as part of the program (e.g., MA/PhD, MS/PhD), the months of study are calculated starting on the date on which the applicant is officially registered in the joint program (including the master’s portion of the program).
      • For joint professional undergraduate/PhD programs (e.g., MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), only the months of study in the PhD portion of the program will be counted.
      • All joint degree students must complete a timeline of their registration broken down by session in the “Attach other Application Materials” task to confirm eligibility.
    • enrolled directly from a Bachelor’s to a PhD (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 (fast-track), 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, regardless of when the master’s degree registration began or the type of master’s degree.
• Have achieved a first-class average (A-), in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent;
• Not have already received a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, SSHRC or NSERC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

Note: Eligible candidates may apply to both the Vanier CGS program and other Tri-agency-specific scholarship/fellowship programs (whether at the same or a different federal granting agency in the same academic year, provided that the research proposed in each application falls within the mandate of the federal granting agency to which the application is submitted, and the candidate meets all eligibility criteria. Candidates who are successful in more than one competition will have to choose one award to accept.

Interview date, Process and Venue for Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Applicants must be nominated by the institution at which they wish to study and hold the award. Applicants seeking an institutional nomination must first receive the endorsement of their proposed graduate unit through a local selection process. Applicants seeking this endorsement must submit a completed Vanier CGS application using the ResearchNet application system. Graduate units will view the submitted applications from candidates seeking endorsement via ResearchNet.

Nomination Letters must be completed and signed by the Department Head nominating the candidate. (See SGS Instructions to Administrators for guidelines on selecting candidates and preparing this letter. These instructions will be distributed later in July.)

Documents Required for Application

Application updates & reminders:

• Transcripts:
  • New: While applications containing unofficial transcripts will be accepted by Vanier, applicants should note that submission of an application will continue to serve as a formal attestation that they provided true, complete, accurate information in the application and its related documents. The Tri-Agency may contact administrative staff at applicants’ institutions or applicants directly in order to verify that the contents of the submitted transcripts are true, complete and accurate. SGS recommends that students submit official transcripts whenever possible as reviewers will find them easier to read and authenticity will not be questioned.
  • New: Submit all transcripts to the graduate unit. If unofficial transcripts are being submitted, they must indicate the issuing institution’s and the student’s names.
  • All transcripts should include one copy of the issuing institution’s grading legend.
  • If a nominee has international transcripts, institutions must attach a 250-word summary to describe the variations in the grading system from the country of the transcript and the Canadian level equivalents, and/or explain international credentials and equivalencies. The summary should be a PDF document attached at the beginning of their transcripts.
  • New: College or CEGEP transcripts are no longer required to be submitted with the nomination package.
• Lay Abstract: To help the selection committee members identify the supervisor, the nominee will be asked to indicate the supervisor’s name and institution at the beginning of the lay abstract.
• Leadership Statement: The statement should only include elements of what personal experience has shaped applicants’ doctoral research. The statement should go beyond a list of accomplishments. Applicants should outline to the committee the ways in which these accomplishments demonstrate their leadership abilities and skills.
• Leadership Reference Letters: Applicants are required to upload two leadership reference letters. Leadership reference letters must be attached one at a time. The ability to upload the second letter will appear after the first one has been uploaded. Note: Vanier recommends that each of the four required letters (two academic and two leadership) come from four individuals but letters from the same sources will not be declared ineligible.
• Special Circumstances (Optional):
  • Applicants are encouraged to explain any personal circumstances (including gender, race, diversity ability, sexuality, health disparities, educational access, etc.) that have impacted their academic trajectory in order to allow for a fair assessment of their research productivity.
  • Applicants can describe circumstances such as administrative responsibilities, health problems, family responsibilities, disabilities, trauma and/or loss, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, pandemic impact or other circumstances (for example, the time necessary to complete a monograph or research project, file a patent, or academia and/or career advancement, scientific research, other research, dissemination of results, training, etc.). They may explain gaps in the chronology of their experience.
• Attach other Application Materials:
  • Part-Time Studies: Applicants must upload information about any part-time studies in this section. If they have been enrolled part-time during their PhD studies, they must specify which semesters. The information must be reflected in the transcripts.
  • Joint Program: Applicants registered in a joint program (e.g., MD/PhD), must upload the timeline of their undergraduate/graduate versus doctoral program studies, broken down by semester, in this section.
• Identify Referees: Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the “Identify Referees” task on ResearchNet well in advance as referee assessments must be completed and submitted by the referee before the student can complete the submission by the graduate unit deadline. 
• Research Proposal: The students’ proposed research project and doctoral program of study must be eligible within the mandate of the agency to which the nomination will be submitted.
• French Applications: In order to ensure an equitable amount of space for the personal leadership statement and the research proposal written in either official language, the Personal Leadership Statement and the Research Proposal attachments for nominations submitted in French are now permitted to be a maximum of 2.5 pages.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Applicants should refer to the Vanier website for step by step application/nomination instructions. The ResearchNet application will only be accessible to applicants until the published Institution Internal Deadline of Sept 16th at 8pm, at which time it will go offline for U of T applicants.

Applicants must complete the entire application process by their unit’s student submission deadline (which is usually earlier than the institution deadline) to be eligible for consideration. This includes:

• Contacting their proposed graduate unit regarding their specific student submission deadline and requirements;
• Submitting a completed Vanier CGS application via ResearchNet;

For more details, visit University of Toronto Scholarship webpage