Awards and funding

• The Universities Canada website contains useful tips and tools for international students planning to study in Canada, as well as a searchable database for scholarship programs for all students pursuing post-secondary education.
• The Government of Canada International Scholarship Program website lists Canadian scholarship programs for non-Canadians wishing to study and conduct research in Canada. For details on Waterloo’s administrative process for graduate students, please contact Waterloo International. 
• The Scholarships Canada database is an extensive database to find scholarships, bursaries and grants. You'll also find information about student loans, applications and budget planning. 

• Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that designs and delivers research and training programs in Canada. Working with 60 universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada. Open to all disciplines since 2007, Mitacs has expanded in response to industrial and university needs, including programs in R&D management, professional skills development, and international research training.

• The Centre’s website contains information about U.S. funding programs  

• The Global Engagement Office has information about other international opportunities.

Students will often seek funding opportunities independently through external corporations or companies, which often prefer to send the scholarship funds to the University so that they can be applied to the student’s tuition. If a cheque or electronic fund transfer (EFT) is being provided by the external corporation, it should be made payable to the University of Waterloo and be accompanied by a letter or memo containing details about the purpose of the funds, along with the student’s name and ID number.

External award cheques should be mailed directly to Finance, which will then collaborate with Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs to process the award in Quest.

Mailing address for external award cheques:

Suzanne Goggin
UW Finance – East Campus 5
University of Waterloo
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1

Questions about external award payments

Any questions about this process or about the status of an external award that has been sent to the University of Waterloo can be directed to grad-payments@uwaterloo.ca.

T4A tax forms for external awards

The University of Waterloo is obligated to issue a T4A tax form for all award payments made through the University, including those made on behalf of an external corporation.

T4As are produced each February for awards issued during the previous calendar year and will be available to access online. Visit the Tax Documents section of the Finance website for more information. 

Note: The University of Waterloo is unable to exclude specific scholarship/award payments from our T4A reporting processes. In the event that the external award provider has also issued a T4A for the same funds, you will need to ask them to revise their T4A form so that the award is not double-reported to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Students who hold one of the following doctoral scholarships at Waterloo are eligible to receive a PGS:

• Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D)
• Tri-Agency Canada Impact+ Research Training Award (Doctoral)

Effective fall 2025, the following scholarships are no longer available. However, recipients from previous competition years will continue to receive the PGS for as long as they hold their scholarship.

• CIHR CGS-D
• NSERC CGS-D and PGS-D​
• SSHRC CGS-D and Doctoral Award
• ​Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

*Departments and/or faculties may choose to provide additional funding. Students are encouraged to contact their department graduate co-ordinator for details.

Recipients of the following scholarship at Waterloo are eligible to receive a PGS:

• Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master's (CGRS M)

Effective fall 2025, the Tri-Agency Canada Graduate Scholarship Master’s (CGS M) is no longer available. However, recipients from previous competition years will continue to receive the PGS for as long as they hold their scholarship. 

Students (master’s or doctoral) who hold an OGS or QEII-GSST at Waterloo are eligible to receive a PGS:

The term "award" is a general designation applied to any scholarship, prize, medal, fellowship, or grant of money assigned to a student. Within this designation, awards are further defined as follows:

• Awards - based on a combination of criteria such as academic performance, leadership or involvement in extracurricular activities or student affairs at the university or in the community, work-related experience, athletic achievement or participation, or work-term performance, and may include a financial need component
• Bursaries - based primarily on financial need
• Scholarships - based primarily on outstanding academic merit (80% or greater) or excellence in a specific subject or group of subjects

Recipients of awards and funding may have their information (including details such as recipient name, academic program, award value, etc.) shared with donors, sponsors, agencies and institutional administrative staff for stewardship, recognition and statistical purposes. Please note that through the name/eligibility of the award, recipient demographic information may be identified. Should you have any questions about this, please contact the Associate Director, Graduate Financial Aid & Awards.

The use of GenAI is acceptable for financial need-based bursary applications where it may be of assistance in explaining personal circumstances. However, the use of GenAI for merit-based scholarship applications must be done cautiously. Students should review GSPA’s webpage for GenAI guidance for graduate students prior to using GenAI for scholarship applications.