Graduate student funding

You can fund your graduate studies through UVic fellowships, teaching or research assistantships, or a combination of all three.

Consider adding co-operative education to your degree. Co-op lets you alternate coursework with paid work experience and our co-op program is the largest graduate co-op program in Canada.

As a graduate student, you're eligible for a number of scholarships and awards.

UVic scholarships & awards

The Faculty of Graduate Studies provides awards to graduate students of high academic standing. The distribution, value and duration of these awards and fellowships are determined by each academic unit; final approval is made by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. 

2023-24 Guidelines (September 2023 to August 2024)

• UVic Fellowships of up to $17,500 per year (master's) and $20,000 per year (PhD)
• UVic Graduate Awards of up to $10,000 per year (master’s and PhD)

2024-25 Guidelines  (September 2024 to August 2025)

• UVic Fellowships of up to $20,000 per year (masters and doctoral)
• UVic Graduate Awards are discontinued

Eligibility

• Canadian and international students are eligible for funding by their department
• Students must be unconditionally admitted to a master's or doctoral degree at UVic 
• The minimum requirement for consideration is 7.0/9.0 or first class standing for a UVic Fellowship or 6.0/9.0 (second class standing) for a Graduate Award, on the last two years of course work. Meeting the minimum eligibility does not guarantee that you will receive an award
• Full-time registration (3.0 units per term) for UVic Fellowships,  Graduate Entrance Awards, President Research Scholarships, and donor awards
• General graduate awards allow for part-time registration in a minimum of 1.5 units each term
• Students registered with CAL are considered for all UVic graduate scholarships when registered in a minimum of 1.5 units per term. Students must identify themselves to FGS and send a copy of their CAL letter to scholoff@uvic.ca.

*2024-25 minimum requirement for a UVic Fellowship will be 6.0/9.0 (UVic scale) or second class standing for entering International students.

Not all scholarships require an application; for more information visit graduate scholarships and awards to search for specific funding. For scholarships and awards on the online graduate scholarship application that require a financial need assessment, please complete the budget within the online application. 

Retaining funding

How to retain your UVic graduate funding: FGS scholarships, awards and fellowships are awarded to students primarily on the basis of academic merit. Donor awards may have other criteria in addition to academic merit to be considered for the award.

Students need to ensure they meet all FGS funding eligibility criteria and regulations in order to retain their graduate funding. Please note, graduate funding is normally for the current academic year, unless otherwise stated in the FGS offer letter. Renewal is not automatic; it is at the discretion of the student's department. 

Students who hold a SSHRC or NSERC CGSD award must complete an annual research progress report detailing the achievments of the previous year and the objectives for the next year. FGS will contact students each year with the required deadline to complete.