Scholarship Overview
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program is an award scheme launched by the Government of Canada 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.
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 the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health. The scholarship is awarded to 166 scholarships annually and is valued at $50,000 per year for the three years of the student's doctoral studies.
Host Institution(s):
The host Institutions are various universities in Canada.
Level(s)/Fields(s):
A PhD degree in the following areas;
- social sciences and humanities
- natural sciences and/or engineering
- health Research
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Vanier CGS, you should:
- be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or a foreign citizen.
- 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 - 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) 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, 2023;
- 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
- must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.
Application Instructions
- To apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the institution to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS quota.
- Candidates must be nominated by the institution at which they want to study. Candidates cannot apply directly to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program. Vanier CGS application packages submitted through ResearchNet will first be submitted to the Canadian institution that will be putting forward their nomination.
- Begin your application by researching Canadian institutions through the Universities Canada website. We recommend browsing each university’s respective website and thoroughly researching the program of interest in which you would like to complete your doctorate degree, as well as supervisors for your proposed research.
- Consult the Vanier CGS quota page in order to ensure that your institution of interest has a quota for the year in which you are applying.