Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Canada
Last updated: 13th October 2023
Province of Ontario and the University of Toronto
Masters/PhD Degree
Deadline: varies, before 1 June 2023 (Annually)
Study in: Canada
Course starts: Fall 2024/Winter 2024/Summer 2024
Brief description:
Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) are offered by the University of Toronto to students who want to enroll in its Masters and Doctoral degree programs. At Ontario’s publicly supported universities, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program promotes excellence in graduate study. The OGS program has offered merit-based scholarships to the top graduate students in all academic fields from Ontario since 1975. The University of Toronto and the Province of Ontario jointly support the scholarship program. The Province distributes OGS awards to universities, indicating the maximum number of prizes that each institution may yearly grant to its students.
Host Institution(s):
School of Graduate Studies
Level/Field(s) of study:
Masters and PhD degrees in any subject
Number of Scholarships:
Not stated
Target Student:
Canadians, including citizens, permanent residents, protected individuals, and students from other countries studying abroad.
Scholarship value/inclusions:
The OGS is worth $5,000 for each session. As a result, recipients are eligible to win $10,000 for two consecutive sessions or $15,000 for three consecutive sessions. In every case, the awarding graduate unit will pay for a third of the total prize that the students get.
Each scholarship has a one-year term (i.e., 2 consecutive or 3 academic sessions). The graduate unit granting the OGS will specify the value and duration of each award in the offer letter. The maximum number of years a student may hold an OGS is restricted. The maximum OGS awards for masters students is two years. OGS grants can be given to doctoral candidates for up to 4 years. A lifetime maximum of 6 years per student applies to both.
Additionally, OGS regulations limit students to a lifetime total of six years of government-funded prizes and forbid them from simultaneously holding an OGS and another government-funded award.
Eligibility:
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), protects persons under paragraph 95(2), Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or international students enrolled at or planning to enroll at the University of Toronto on a temporary residence visa are all acceptable candidates (student study permit). They must be enrolled, or plan to enroll, full-time for the academic year in a qualifying program. A graduate degree-granting program at the University of Toronto that is offered full-time throughout two or three sessions is referred to as an eligible program. A student who is enrolled in at least 60% of a full course load (or 40% for those with a permanent impairment) is considered to be full-time, according to the University’s definition.
They must have earned at least an A- (or an equivalent grade) in each of their most recent two years of study (full-time equivalent), or if they have already finished two years of graduate school, they only need to show that they have an overall average of at least an A- (or an equivalent grade) in all of their graduate coursework. The next most recent undergraduate or graduate marks that are accessible should be used to assess eligibility if the marks that were used to calculate an applicant’s grade point average (GPA) are unavailable (for example, because the courses were evaluated on a pass-fail basis).
To hold an OGS award, the winner must enroll in and maintain full-time enrollment in an appropriate program at the graduate unit from whence the OGS was given at the University of Toronto. Their position with the Ontario Student Assistance Program must be satisfactory (OSAP). The prize is not available to applicants who have defaulted on a Canadian or Ontario Student Loan or who haven’t repaid a loan overpayment promptly. An OSAP limitation does not prevent a person from applying for the OGS. However, to accept and hold the prize if they are chosen, they must get the limitation lifted within 30 days after being informed.
Scholars are permitted to take on paid employment that is consistent with graduate unit standards and does not interfere with their status as full-time graduate students, such as research assistantships, part-time teaching roles, or other paid work. Students who work full-time for pay are often not qualified to acquire an OGS from the University of Toronto. Additionally, students are not permitted to hold an OGS grant during the same session as another scholarship from SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR, QEII-GSST, or another OGS, or during the same award year.
The qualifying requirements listed below are only the minimal standards. Additional requirements may be set by graduate units for those seeking, receiving, or holding OGSs. Any extra criteria or conditions not covered by the conditions specified below should be discussed by students with their graduate unit.
Application instructions for Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Canada:
Candidates must use the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies’ unified online OGS application to submit an OGS application to their desired graduate program. Each graduate unit will have a deadline for internal submissions that candidates must follow (for Fall 2024 entry, the deadlines vary from December 2023 to April 2024). For information on deadlines set by the various Graduate Units, see the official website (link provided below).
Each university a student wishes to attend requires that they get an OGS application. OGS awards cannot be transferred across universities. A separate OGS application must be submitted to each graduate unit/department if you’re applying to more than one at the University of Toronto.
Important information for visa applicants: Applicants are eligible to apply using the same application process and internal deadlines established by their current or proposed graduate unit if they have or will have a valid student visa by the graduate unit’s OGS visa application deadline (or, at the graduate unit’s discretion, by 31 March 2023 at the latest). By 1 June 2023, graduate units will choose and submit a small number of applications to the School of Graduate Studies for consideration in a centralized adjudication.
For comprehensive instructions on how to apply for this scholarship, it is crucial to visit the official website (link provided below).
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Canada Official Scholarship Website