2025 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) Program

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.

Candidate Eligibility

Citizenship

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

Eligibility to apply for a Vanier CGS

• be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota^Footnote1;
• 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.

Please note that only the PhD portion of a joint program is eligible for funding.

Eligibility of Program of Study

• An eligible doctoral program must include a significant research component that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as requirement for a completion of the program.
• Joint graduate research programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) as well as clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible programs if they have a significant autonomous research component, as described above.

Timeline:

• For students: Consult nominating institution for submission deadline.
• For nominating institutions: Deadline: October 30, 2024 (20:00 EDT).

Nomination Process

1. Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
   1. the student informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected institution of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS program; or
   2. the institution initiates the nomination process by contacting the desired candidate.
2. Applications are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline (set in ResearchNet by the nominating institution) using the ResearchNet application system.
3. The nominating institution performs the internal candidate selection process. The institution is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not selected for nomination to the Secretariat. The timing for this notification may vary by institution.
4. The nominating institution forwards recommended nominations to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat by October 30, 2024 (20:00 Eastern Time).
5. The Secretariat coordinates the review process.
6. The Secretariat presents the recommendations to the Tri-agency Programs (TAP) Steering Committee.
7. The TAP Steering Committee endorses and approves final decisions for the Vanier CGS program.
8. Nominated candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2025.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) Program