Major Scholarships

2025-26 NSERC/CIHR Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

  • Eligibility requirements and application procedures for the Vanier CGS are available on the Vanier website.
  • To be considered for nomination by ECE, Vanier CGS applications must be submitted on-line via ResearchNet by August 14, 2024.
    • Select "University of Toronto, Electrical and Computer Engineering" as your graduate unit.
  • Applicants must also e-mail official transcripts to advising.masc.phd.ece@utoronto.ca by August 14, 2024. Please provide transcripts for all university and college programs and courses attended, including the University of Toronto (even if you are new to U of T as of September 2024).
  • Applications in ECE can be submitted in either the NSERC or CIHR stream (whichever is most appropriate).
    • Applicants must work with their supervisors to determine whether it is more appropriate/advantageous to submit an application under NSERC or CIHR.
    • SGS notes the following: If there is any doubt (especially for those applying to SSHRC or NSERC whose subject matter touches upon health in any capacity, and especially research impacting populations with a diagnosed medical condition/disease), students are urged to email vanier@cihr-irsc.gc.ca directly with a one-page summary of their proposed research to seek written confirmation in advance of submitting their application. Complete guidelines on selecting the appropriate federal granting agency are available at www.science.gc.ca.

2025-26 NSERC/CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral Program (CGS-D)

  • Eligibility requirements and application procedures are outlined on the NSERC website.
  • To be considered for nomination by ECE, applications must be submitted through the NSERC On-line System by 9am on Monday September 9, 2024.
    • Select "Electrical & Computer Engineering, Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of" as your graduate unit.
  • Applications in ECE can be submitted in either the NSERC or CIHR stream (whichever is most appropriate).
    • Applicants must work with their supervisors to determine whether it is more appropriate/advantageous to submit an application under NSERC or CIHR.
    • Please carefully review the 'Subject Matter Eligibility' section on the SGS website.

2025-26 NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master’s Program (CGS-M)

  • Eligibility requirements and application procedures are outlined on the NSERC website.
  • As per the NSERC website, all elements of the application must be complete on the Research Portal by December 2, 2024 before 8:00 p.m. (ET). Note: This is a strict deadline set by NSERC and exceptions are not possible.
    • Applicants are strongly encouraged to start their application early as the above deadline includes elements that can require significant lead time (referee reports, transcripts, CCV, etc.)
    • The Research Portal will instruct CGS-M applicants to select up to three universities where they wish to pursue graduate studies and hold the award. If you are applying to hold the CGS-M in ECE at U of T, you must select 'University of Toronto, Electrical and Computer Engineering' as one of your graduate units.
  • If you are an undergraduate student applying to hold the CGS-M in ECE at U of T, you must also submit your application for admission to the MASc program on the ECE Application System by January 9, 2025.
  • Application review & results:
    • Each Canadian university will be assigned an allocation of CGS-M scholarships representing the number of scholarships that it may award on behalf of NSERC.
    • Each graduate unit will review and rank CGS-M applications and forward applications, within an assigned quota, to their graduate school for the final competition.
      • Selection committees established by the School of Graduate Studies will review forwarded applications and select applicants for award at the University of Toronto.
    • The graduate school at each university is responsible for communicating the results of the competition to the applicants. The results will be announced and offers of award made via the Research Portal in April.
      • Applicants will have three weeks to accept or decline offers. An applicant may accept only one CGS-M offer. If the applicant accepts an offer, (s)he will be deemed to have declined any other pending offers (if applicable), and will not be eligible to receive further offers.
      • Applicants are not eligible to receive or accept a CGS-M from a graduate unit not listed in their CGS-M application, nor are applicants eligible to receive or accept a CGS-M from a university where they did not apply for admission to an eligible program of study.

2025-26 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)

  • Please review eligibility requirements and application procedures for the OGS prior to commencing your application.
  • The deadline for students in ECE to submit an OGS application (both international and domestic): February 27, 2025

    • Students should apply to either the international or domestic competition based on their legal status as of February 1, 2025.
  • OGS results will be announced in July 2025.
  • Students who wish to be considered for the Bell Graduate Scholarship or the QEII Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) must apply for OGS.

2025-26 Bell Graduate Scholarship, Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)

  • In ECE, eligibility for the Bell Graduate Scholarship and the QEII-GSST is restricted to domestic research-stream students who will be within their period of guaranteed funding in the 2025-26 academic year.
  • Students must apply for the OGS in order to be considered for the Bell Graduate Scholarship or the QEII-GSST. A separate application will NOT be required for these scholarships. Students may be awarded the Bell Graduate Scholarship or the QEII-GSST on the basis of their ranking in the OGS competition.
  • Competition results will be announced in July 2025.