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

Deadline: October 30, 2024

Applications for the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program 2025 are now open. The Government of Canada launched the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (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

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 a 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 the 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.

Selection Criteria

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

Academic Excellence
Research Potential
Leadership (Potential and Demonstrated Ability)

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 of 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 of 2 pages for English applications; maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications)
project references (maximum 5 pages)
transcripts