Value
$17,500 for 12 months, non-renewable
Application deadline
December 1
Application procedures
See below
How to apply
To view instructions and other resources, select Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s Program Resources.
To create or access an application, select Research Portal.
To create a Canadian Common CV, select Canadian Common CV.
Objective
The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Program is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies.
Description
The CGS M Program provides financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in eligible master’s or, in some cases, doctoral programs in Canada (refer to Eligibility). This support allows these scholars to fully concentrate on their studies in their chosen fields.
The CGS M Program supports up to 2,500 students annually in all disciplines and is administered jointly by Canada’s three federal granting agencies: CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC. The selection process and post-award administration are carried out at the institutional level, under the guidance of the three agencies. Students submit their application to the institution at which they intend to hold their award using the Research Portal.
Eligibility
Applicant
To be eligible to apply, you must:
- be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
- be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission* to an eligible graduate program at the master’s or doctoral level at a Canadian institution with a CGS M allocation;
- respect the internal deadline to apply for admission for your intended program of study. Contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at the selected Canadian institution(s) for more detailed information;
- have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application:
- between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in the program for which you are requesting funding, which may be:
- a master’s program;
- a doctoral program that you are entering without having ever been enrolled in a master’s program (i.e., direct-entry);
- a combined master’s-doctoral program;
- a master’s program that will transition to an eligible doctoral program, either before or after award activation, with no master’s degree conferred (i.e., fast-track); or
- a master’s program for which the degree requirements will be completed before the end of the award, allowing the award to continue into an eligible doctoral program; or
- between four and 12 months of full-time study (or full-time equivalent) in a master’s program for which the degree requirements will be completed before activation of the award, allowing it to be activated during the subsequent doctoral program for which you are requesting funding (CIHR and NSERC only);
- between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in the program for which you are requesting funding, which may be:
- not have previously held a CGS M. For CIHR and NSERC, scholarship support for graduate studies (master’s and doctoral) is limited to a lifetime maximum of four years (48 months) of full-time equivalency. If you have received the maximum support toward your graduate-level studies by any of the three federal granting agencies, you may not be eligible to apply for a CGS M;
- have achieved a first-class average**, as determined by the host institution, in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent);
- submit a maximum of one scholarship application per academic year to either CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC (the Research Portal will allow the application to be submitted to up to three institutions – refer to Application procedures).
*Refer to the Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder’s Guide for details regarding part-time admission.
**Institutions may, at their discretion, offer a CGS M award to applicants who have not obtained a first-class average.
An eligible graduate program must have a significant research component. A significant research component is considered to be original, autonomous research that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program.
- Joint programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/MA, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD, MA/MBA) are eligible if they have a significant research component, as described above.
- Clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are also eligible programs if they have a significant research component, as described above.
- Master’s programs that are based only on course work are typically not eligible since they do not include a significant research component.
Given the specific requirements of certain disciplines, institutions are invited to contact the appropriate agency for guidance on the eligibility of programs of study.
Tenure
Without exception, CGS M awards are tenable only at eligible Canadian institutions.
Field of research/subject matter eligibility
CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC support and promote high-quality research in a wide variety of disciplines and areas, which are divided into broad fields of research (health, natural sciences and/or engineering, and social sciences and/or humanities). This includes research that bridges two or more disciplines or that requires the skills of several disciplines.
Applicants must ensure that they are submitting their application to an institution that has an allocation for the field of research they intend to pursue. Applications deemed by a host institution to have been labeled incorrectly will be re-labeled according to the agency’s research subject matter guidelines (refer to 
Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency). Applicants should contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at the institution where they intend to hold the award for further guidance on subject matter eligibility.
Application procedures
To apply to the CGS M Program, applicants must complete and submit an application using the Research Portal. Applicants should consult the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program – Instructions for completing an application.
The Research Portal will instruct applicants to select up to three institutions where they intend to hold the award. Applicants must only select institutions where:
- they are currently admitted or enrolled full-time in an eligible program of study and intend to pursue their studies; or
- they will apply for full-time admission to an eligible program of study by the internal deadline set by the institution(s).
Note: For some institutions, the selection process is carried out at the departmental level; therefore, it is important that the department you select in your application be the same as the department to which you will apply for admission. Otherwise, your application might not be considered. Contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at the selected Canadian institution(s) for more detailed information.
Allocations
Eligible Canadian institutions are assigned a separate allocation of awards to offer from each agency. Institutions must respect the agency-specific allocation. Refer to the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Award Allocations page for a list of allocations by institution and by agency.
Deadlines
- Application deadline: December 1, before 8:00 p.m. (ET). Complete applications must be submitted by the deadline using the Research Portal. If the deadline falls on a weekend, applications must be submitted by the following business day before 8:00 p.m. (ET).
- As the application deadline approaches, delays may occur due to a high volume of users on the Research Portal, which may prevent the timely submission of your application. Requests to submit late applications will not be accepted.
- Results deadline: Competition results will be available in the Research Portal as of April 1.
Selection process
The Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at each institution is responsible for coordinating the selection process for the CGS M applications. Refer to Information and instructions for scholarships liaison officers for managing the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program for more information on the selection process.
More Info:
The first point of contact regarding the CGS M Program is the Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at the institution(s) where you intend to hold the award.
You can also contact any of Canada’s three federal granting agencies for information about this program. You should communicate with the agency whose mandate corresponds to your field of research.
The agencies aim to respond to inquiries within 48 hours. During peak periods (November to January), response time may be delayed.
CIHR
Email: cgsma@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
NSERC
Email: schol@nserc-crsng.gc.ca
SSHRC
Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/CGSM-BESCM_eng.asp#contact