Canada – Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2025/2026 for International Students

Canada – Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) 2025/2026 for International Students. Apply below.

When is Application Deadline:

1st February 2025

Tell Me About Award:

The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) programs encourage excellence in graduate studies at publicly assisted universities in Ontario. Both programs are jointly funded by the Ontario government and participating institutions. The government contributes two-thirds of the value of the awards and the university provides the remaining one-third.

Which Fields are Eligible?

Students are considered for the OGS and QEII-GSST at Waterloo by using one application. Both scholarships are of equal prestige. The differences between the OGS and QEII-GSST scholarships are as follows:

• OGS – available for all disciplines of academic study; available to Canadian Citizens/Permanent Residents and International students.
• QEII-GSST – available specifically for students in a research-based graduate program in one of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines; only available to Canadian Citizens/Permanent residents.

Type:

Scholarship

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Who can Apply?

Citizenship

• International applicants must hold a valid study permit under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada).
• Domestic applicants must be a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, or Protected Person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada)

Minimum Academic Requirements

• Applicants must have achieved a first-class average (minimum of A-/80%), in EACH of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent). 
• Eligibility averages are calculated using grades from your most-recent academic history up to August 31, 2024, regardless of program or relevance to your current or proposed program. Waterloo is required to adhere to these parameters as dictated by Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU).

Program of Study

• OGS awards are open to applicants in all disciplines of academic study (research-based AND course-based* programs).  
• QEII-GSST awards are restricted to applicants in research-based graduate programs in a STEM discipline only (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

*Note: Application packages from course-based students must demonstrate evidence of all criteria under which their application will be evaluated, including research ability.

Registration/Admission Status

• International applicants must:
  • be currently registered in a graduate program at Waterloo or be on an approved leave of absence/inactive term by February 1, 2025 in order to be considered.
    • Due to the limited quota of awards available for international students, prospective graduate students are not eligible to apply.
• Domestic applicants must:
  • be currently registered in a graduate program at Waterloo or be on an approved leave of absence/inactive term by February 1, 2025 in order to be considered; OR
  • apply for full-time graduate admission at Waterloo with a start term of either spring 2025, fall 2025 or winter 2026. 

Note: all students must be registered full time at the time of holding the scholarship.

Time in Program

Selected recipients are normally within their program time limits but students over their term limits are still eligible to apply.

Maximum Support

Master’s students can receive an OGS or QEII-GSST for a maximum of two academic years and doctoral students for a maximum of four academic years.*

In addition, students cannot exceed a lifetime maximum of six (6) years of government-funded graduate awards. Awards under the following programs are counted toward this lifetime maximum:

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS)*
• Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)*
• Ontario Trillium Scholarships (OTS)
• Tri-Agency Scholarships (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, Vanier)

*For the purpose of OGS/QEII-GSST, one or two term awards will count as one full year towards the OGS/QEII-GSST program and lifetime maximums. 

Evaluation criteria

There are three areas of evaluation under which the application will be considered. Each department and Faculty will determine the weight placed on each of the following criteria within the ranges indicated:

1. Academic Excellence (30-50%*); as demonstrated by:
   • academic transcripts
   • list of competitive scholarships, awards and honours
2. Research Ability and Potential in Program of Study (30-50%*); as demonstrated by:
   • publications
   • conferences
   • presentations
   • originality, artistic performance and creations broadly defined (where relevant to field of study)
3. Communication and Leadership Abilities (10-20%*); as demonstrated by:
   • list of relevant volunteer, leadership and academic work experience.

*Individual faculty weights:

• Arts, Engineering: (1) 50%, (2) 30%, (3) 20%
• Health: (1) 50%, (2) 40%, (3) 10%
• Environment, Mathematics, Science: (1) 40%, (2) 40%, (3) 20%

Which Countries are Eligible?

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS): Indigenous, Domestic & International

Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST): Indigenous, Domestic

Where will Award be Taken?

University of Waterloo, Canada

How Many Awards?

5

What is the Benefit of Award?

Each OGS and QEII-GSST is valued at a maximum of $15,000 per year. The award is paid as $5,000 per term for either two or three terms.

Waterloo celebrates outstanding academic achievement of its graduate students by offering the President’s Graduate Scholarship (PGS) to students receiving an OGS or QEII-GSST.

How Long will Award Last?

Awards are granted for up to one year in duration and are non-renewable. Applicants must apply annually in order to be considered.

Recipients can hold the scholarship for a minimum of two terms (receiving $10,000 total) or a maximum of three terms (receiving $15,000 total). Accepting an OGS/QEII-GSST for only one term is not permitted.

How to Apply:

The OGS and QEII-GSST scholarships are not portable (recipients cannot take their OGS/QEII-GSST to another institution). Applicants must submit separate applications at each institution where they wish to be considered for an OGS/QEII-GSST. Therefore, applicants may need to submit multiple OGS/QEII-GSST applications to several institutions. Each institution has their own application processes and timelines.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

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