Financial aid

Financial assistance includes fellowships and scholarships as well as research and teaching assistantships. Other funding may be available from industrial contract work.

If you’re a foreign student you must obtain an official work permit (student visa) and social insurance number from the Canadian Employment and Immigration Department before accepting employment of any kind in Canada.

Fellowships and scholarships

Canadian citizens or landed immigrants resident in Canada are eligible to apply for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Post Graduate Scholarships (PGSs) and Post Doctoral Fellowships (PDFs). See the NSERC site for current award amounts.

University of Victoria Fellowships are valued at up to $15,000/yr (MASc) and $18,000/yr (PhD). To be considered for a fellowship, be sure to check the appropriate box under the financial assistance section of your application for admission form. A grade point average of at least 7.0/9.0 (A-) is necessary to be considered for a fellowship. You must submit your completed admission application, as well as transcripts, by February 15 in order to be guaranteed consideration. Learn more about graduate funding on the Graduate Studies site.

Major scholarship/fellowship supplements are available for students with major scholarships or fellowships. They can come from the Advanced Systems Institute (ASI) of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and/or from a professor through research assistantships. Learn about academic income supplements on the Graduate Studies site.

Awards

We offer up to eight awards of $20,000 each for graduate students each academic year. The award value for winners of NSERC PGS and CGS M awards is $10,000; however, NSERC PGS and CGS M scholarship winners automatically receive a President’s Research Scholarship valued at $4,000. Learn more about departmental graduate student awards.

Assistantships

Research assistantships are available to qualified graduate students to assist professors with various research projects. Since they are paid from external grants and contracts, you must negotiate with the grant-holder for a position. Normally, professors will support graduate students under their supervision.

Industrial research contracts are often available when professors hire their graduate students to work part-time on research contracts with industry. These positions can supplement your income and give you exposure to industrial problems relevant to your research topics.

Teaching assistantships are available to assist academic staff in teaching undergraduate laboratory experiments, conducting tutorial sessions and marking problem sets and/or quizzes. Learn about teaching assistant positions.

Graduate teaching and research fellowships (GTRFs) are offered to teaching assistants in addition to hourly pay. Learn more about funding on the Graduate Studies site.