The University of Waterloo is proud to offer financial support to graduate students.
At Waterloo, graduate students may be able to receive funding from various sources such as Teaching Assistantships (TA), Research Assistantships (RA), Graduate Research Studentships (GRS), internal awards, external awards, bursaries, and emergency loans.
Internal awards
Graduate funding and awards database
Visit our graduate funding and awards database to identify internal Waterloo award opportunities for current and prospective students.
Many internal Waterloo awards have been made financially possible through donations from the Waterloo community of Faculty, Staff, and Alumni, as well as donations from the public sector and private donors. Graduate students who receive a Waterloo award from an endowed or donated fund from a specific donor will be notified of this via email. Recipients will be asked to complete a short online form expressing how the award has impacted them personally. The Office of Development will then share these stories with the donor.
The majority of internal awards do not require an application. Instead, students are nominated by their departments based on specific award & selection criteria. Graduate students can also contact their department graduate co-ordinator for further details about internal Waterloo awards.
President's Graduate Scholarship (PGS)
Waterloo is pleased to provide the President's Graduate Scholarship (PGS) to outstanding graduate students who hold certain major federally and provincially funded competition-based scholarships.
External awards
At Waterloo, we encourage our top graduate students to apply for external awards including those from Canada’s three major research granting agencies and Ontario's major scholarships programs. Students who choose to study at Waterloo and are successful in the major federal and provincial competitions will also receive the President's Graduate Scholarship.
Application procedures vary. It is the responsibility of the applicant to check our external awards web pages below as well as the agency-specific websites for complete details on eligibility, application, and applications instructions.
Federal master's
Federal doctoral
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
- Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
Provincial scholarship
Other prestigious external scholarships
Minimum funding
The University recognizes that graduate students are critical to the University's missions of teaching and research and strives to acknowledge this through minimum funding levels in research programs. Each year, the Graduate Student Relations Committee reviews changes to student costs and makes a recommendation to senior administration on how student support should change year-over-year.
Teaching and research assistantships
Teaching Assistantship (TA) and Research Assistantship (RA) positions are a great way to gain valuable experience in teaching and research. These assistantships may be mandated and part of your graduate funding package or may be optional/additional to what is specified in your offer letter.
Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision
Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) established the Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision to recognize exemplary faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in graduate student supervision, through being a mentor, advisor, role model, humanist and a strategist who exemplifies a high level of energy and ingenuity.
