Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral

triagencydoctoral

Application Deadline:
September 18, 2026, 4:00pm ET

Overview

Award: Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral (CGRS D)

Value: $40,000 per year

Duration: 3 years

Applicants: include eligible domestic and international PhD students and applicants

Funding Source: CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC

The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship — Doctoral (CGRS D) program recognizes and supports outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers. Administered by CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC, it supports and promotes research excellence across a wide variety of health, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities disciplines.

Official transcripts are required for all CGRS D applications submitted through Western University. For more information, see the Official Transcripts section below.


Application Process at Western

1. Confirm Your Eligibility

Review the CGRS D Eligibility Criteria on the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral program funding opportunity webpage.

  • International PhD students are eligible to apply for the CGRS D only if they are registered in their doctoral program of study at an eligible Canadian institution by the application deadline and if they meet all other eligibility criteria. Review the CGRS D Eligibility Criteria for further information.

2. Prepare and Submit Your Application

Step 1: Review the Tri-Agency guidelines on Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency to determine which agency to submit your CGRS D application to.

Step 2: Review the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral funding opportunity webpage.

Step 3: Review the application instructions for your agency:

Step 4: Complete and submit your CGRS D application through your agency's application portal:

Reference Letter Deadlines

It is recommended that you instruct your referees to submit their reference letters well in advance of the application deadline. You will not be able to submit your application until your reference letters have been submitted. Missing reference letters is not grounds for a deadline extension. We recommend that you ask your referees to submit their reference letters no later than September 16, 2026. 

Indigenous Self-Identification

Applicants who self-identify as Indigenous within their CGRS D application will be required to affirm their Indigenous citizenship or membership with Western. For details please visit the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Affirmed applications will be forwarded directly to the Tri-Agencies for further competition above Western's allocated quotas, as per Tri-Agency regulations.  

2a. Official Transcripts

Up-to-date official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate studies must be included in your CGRS D application, including transcripts for the fall term of the year of application, whether they contain grades or not.

Transcripts serve to confirm the number of months of graduate studies completed, calculate your average, and confirm your current registration. If your transcripts include transfer credits from another institution, the original transcript with the grades shown must be included.

Up-to-date official transcripts are defined as transcripts issued by the Registrar's Office and dated or issued in the fall term of application (if currently registered) or after the last term completed (if not currently registered).

2026 Fall Term Registration

If you are registered in a degree program for the 2026 fall term, your transcript must show 2026 Fall Graduate registration, even if this is your first term of your program.

eTranscripts

If you use Western's eTranscript for your CGRS D application, you must share the eTranscript with yourself before you can access the PDF to be uploaded to your application. You must then do one of the following:

  1. download, print, and re-scan the transcript as a PDF, then upload to your application; or
  2. download and print to PDF, then upload to your application

Please review the Office of the Registrar's webpage on eTranscripts for further information: eTranscripts - Office of the Registrar - Western University (uwo.ca).

2b. Western's Quotas

For the Fall 2026 CGRS D competition, Western has been allocated the quotas below. These are the number of applications per agency that Western can nominate to the national CGRS D competition. To determine whether you must submit your CGRS D application through Western University, review the Where to submit an application section of the CGRS D program funding opportunity. 

2c. Timeline

  • July 2026:  Online applications open
  • September 18, 2026, 4:00pm ET:  Western's application deadline for all three agencies
  • September - November, 2026:  Western adjudicates applications and nominates top-ranked applications to the Tri-Agencies within our allocated quotas
  • November, 2026 - April, 2027:  Tri-Agencies adjudicate nominated applications
  • April 30, 2027:  Tri-Agencies announce competition results

3. Access Support

COMING SOON - WESTERN'S CGRS D RESOURCES & FAQ

Western University

Attend a Scholarship Research Proposal Writing Session offered by Western's Writing Support Centre. Click the time/date below to register:

CGRS D Proposal Writing Foundations Webinars:

Participants will learn how to structure a compelling research proposal, tailor it to scholarship reviewers, and avoid common proposal-writing mistakes. Students should register for only one of the two CGRS D foundations webinars as the content is the same.

CGRS D Agency-Specific Proposal Writing Webinars:

These agency-specific sessions build on the foundations webinars by exploring proposal-writing strategies, how to communicate research persuasively to multidisciplinary audiences, and examples relevant to each agency. Participants should register for the webinar associated with the agency to which they intend to apply.

CGRS D Proposal Writing Day:

20-minute appointments will be available with professional writing advisors. They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and spots are limited.

  • September 2, 2026 | Please email amcdon72@uwo.ca for registration details

Western Contacts:

Tri-Agency

Attend a Tri-Agency Scholarship Information Session:

Tri-Agency Contacts:

Holding the Award at Western

Acceptance and Activation

CGRS D award recipients must both accept the award with the awarding agency (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC), and activate the award at Western:

  • Accept the offer of award from the agency following the instructions provided in the award documents, and then activate it for payment by completing the required agency forms.
  • Initiate the payment process at Western by following these steps:
    • Log in to your Student Center account
    • Select 'Student Financials' from the main menu, then 'Financial Aid and Funding'
    • Select 'Graduate External Scholarships' and follow the activation steps

Method of Payment

  • The annual value of the CGRS D is divided into three equal instalments. Funds are applied to the award holder’s Student Center account at the start of each term (September, January and May).

Terms and Conditions

CGRS D award holders must:

  • Abide by the terms and conditions of the CGRS D set out in the Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder's Guide, in the CGRS D funding opportunity, and in the award documents sent by the awarding agency. 
  • Complete the annual SGPS Progress Report Form
    • Award holders will receive an annual notification email from SGPS advising them of the deadline to submit the form. Annual deadlines will vary for each CGRS D award holder depending on the anniversary of their award start date, but will annually fall in either August, December, or April. 
    • A Progress Report can be submitted no earlier than 60 days prior to the anniversary date. 
    • Failure to submit the annual Progress Report will result in the suspension of further award payments. 

Last updated: July 2026