Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
Background
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) program helps Canadian institutions attract highly qualified doctoral students from across the country and abroad. The Vanier CGS program considers three equally weighted selection criteria: Academic Excellence, Research Potential, and Leadership.
Successful applicants will be awarded $50,000 per year for three years (non-renewable) to support their PhD studies.
Scholarships are distributed equally between the three federal granting agencies:
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Holding the Award at Western
Acceptance and Activation
- Accept the offer of award from the agency following the instructions provided in the letter of offer, and then activate it for payment by completing the required agency forms.
- Initiate the payment process at Western by following these steps:
- Access the Student Center
- Select ‘Self Service’ from the main menu, then 'Campus Finances'
- Select ‘My External Scholarships’ and follow the activation steps for the Vanier CGS
- Choose the start date that matches the date stipulated by the agency in the offer
Method of Payment
- At Western University the annual value of an award is divided into three equal installments and each is pre-paid to the award holder’s Student Center account at the start of every term (September, January and May).
Terms and Conditions
- The Tri-Agencies (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) have harmonized their post-award policies, where possible, for research training programs and have incorporated these policies into a harmonized Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder's Guide. The Guide applies to Tri-Agency research training awards such as Vanier CGS, NSERC PGSD/CGSD, SSHRC DF/CGSD, CIHR CGSD and all CGSM. It contains all the forms that training award holders and the University need to facilitate post-award activities allowed by the Tri-Agencies.
- Access and review your Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder's Guide and comply with the regulations governing use of the award
- Complete an annual SGPS Progress Report Form
- Submit the form by the deadline specified by SGPS in the annual notification email
- Annual deadlines will vary for each Vanier Scholar depending on the anniversary of the 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 payments
Results
The agency indicates that the release of funding decisions will take place anytime in April. Nominated applicants are notified individually of their results via ResearchNet. Shortly after, each university receives its own results via the Tri-Agency Secure Site. SGPS updates each nominated candidate’s status in Student Center which prompts individual notifications to be sent to them.
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, similar to the other Tri-Agency scholarship programs, implements a ban on any form of public announcement until the Federal government makes the annual public funding announcement. A press release normally takes place in the late summer/early fall.
Access to Results
Graduate Chairs and Deans
- Access GradNet using Western personal computer account information
- Under the Launch Menu, select External Scholarships
- For Vanier, select the agency-specific competition (CIHRV, NSERCV or SSHRCV), the Aid Year (2025 for results that will be released in April 2024), and the status (Awarded, Not Awarded or Waitlisted)
External Scholarship Coordinators
- Access Student Center
- Select Financial Aid > Awards > External Funding > External Assessment
- Select the criteria to view the desired competition results (i.e. Competition, Aid Year, Cohort)
- Select “Populate Students”
Support
- Contact Erin Daley, Manager (Acting), Financial Support, EMAIL.
