Accommodations and accessibility

If you need help completing online application forms because of a disability, contact your institution (scholarship liaison officer, research grant office or other applicant support office) as early as possible in the application process to investigate available supports. If your institution cannot help, or needs the Secretariat to collaborate on a solution, contact support@cihr-irsc.gc.ca. You can also contact VBS if you have questions or are seeking specific adaptation arrangements. You do not need to share your medical or sensitive personal information and, to protect your privacy, should avoid doing so.

Frequently requested accommodations include, but are not limited to:

• one-on-one phone or video appointment to clarify funding program information or the application process, or to receive technical support;
• alternative formats of online materials to enable access using assistive technology; and
• submission of the application (in full or part) through alternate means or format (e.g., hard copy, voice recording, or data entry by CIHR staff on the applicant’s behalf).

Competition process

1. Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
   1. the student informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected institution of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS program; or
   2. the institution initiates the nomination process by contacting the desired candidate.
2. Applications are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline (set in ResearchNet by the nominating institution) using the ResearchNet application system.
3. The nominating institution performs the internal candidate selection process. The institution is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not selected for nomination to the Secretariat. The timing for this notification may vary by institution.
4. The nominating institution forwards recommended nominations to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat by October 30, 2024 (20:00 Eastern Time).
5. The Secretariat coordinates the review process.
6. The Secretariat presents the recommendations to the Tri-agency Programs (TAP) Steering Committee.
7. The TAP Steering Committee endorses and approves final decisions for the Vanier CGS program.
8. Nominated candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2025.

Application/nomination instructions

Individual application documents can be submitted in either English or French. If another language is required to express a particular idea (e.g., specialized concept), be sure to provide an explanation in French or English.

A complete Vanier CGS application package includes:

• ResearchNet application form (includes two letters of reference, each with three sections)
• CCV (limited entries; please see Completing the Common CV (CCV) for complete information)
• research contributions (maximum one page)
• personal leadership statement (maximum 2 pages for English applications; maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications)
• special circumstances (maximum 1.0 page, optional)
• two leadership letters of reference (maximum 2 pages)
• research proposal (maximum 2 pages for English applications; maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications)
• project references (maximum 5 pages)
• transcripts

General application process

1. Applications must be prepared, finalized and submitted by applicants using ResearchNet.
2. Any information that is not required or exceeds the page/character limits will be removed from the application prior to the review without notification.
3. Applicants must preview all components of their application to ensure its completeness.
4. Applicants who wish to self-identify as an Indigenous (First Nations, Inuk (Inuit) and/or Métis) applicant to their Canadian institution may do so by completing the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships ( Vanier CGS) : Voluntary Self-Identification Form for Indigenous Applicants [ PDF (409 KB) ] and uploading it to their application. Please note that selection committee members will not be made aware of which applicants have self-identified as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuk (Inuit) and/or Métis).
5. The Vanier-Banting Secretariat cannot legally accept an application until the “Consent and Submit” task is completed on ResearchNet.
6. Format of documents: Refer to “Presentation standards for documents” for the required format. All attachments to your application must be prepared according to the standards provided. Applications submitted that are not prepared according to the instructions provided may be deemed ineligible.

Eligibility

Confirm that you and your nominating institution meet all the criteria below before you apply for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS).

Nominations that do not meet all of the eligibility criteria will be deemed ineligible.

Candidate eligibility

Citizenship

Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS.

Eligibility to apply for a Vanier CGS

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

• be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota^Footnote1;
• be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including joint program such as MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, or JD/PhD, MBA/PhD – if it has a demonstrated and significant research component);
• intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral (or a joint graduate research program such as MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) studies and research at the nominating institution; For joint graduate research programs, only the PhD portion of the program is eligible for funding.
• have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program as of May 1, 2025;
  • The doctoral program would begin after the completion of a master’s degree. The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
• have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program (i.e., joint graduate research program, directly from bachelor’s, previously enrolled without obtaining master’s degree, transferring or withdrew from program), by May 1, 2025 if:
  • enrolled in a joint graduate research program, e.g., MD/PhD, MA/PhD, MS/PhD, DVM/PhD. Applicants in this category have access to the 32-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a master’s program:
    • The months of study are calculated starting from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in the joint graduate program. (For MA/PhD or MS/PhD, this will be the master’s registration date).
  • enrolled directly from a bachelor’s to a PhD program (without having been previously enrolled in another graduate program);
    • The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
  • previously enrolled in a master’s program without obtaining the degree, transferring or withdrawing from the program and subsequently starting a doctoral program.
    • The months of study completed are calculated from the original master’s enrolment date.
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your institution, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent. Candidates are encouraged to contact the institution for its definition of a first-class average; and
  • Note: Institutions may, at their discretion, accept Vanier CGS applications from individuals who have not obtained a first-class average; contact your proposed host institutions to determine their use of this eligibility criterion.
• cannot have already received a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

Please note that only the PhD portion of a joint program is eligible for funding.

Eligibility of program of study

• An eligible doctoral program must include a significant research component 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 requirement for a completion of the program.
• Joint graduate research programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) as well as clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible programs if they have a significant autonomous research component, as described above.

Number of months of doctoral studies

Regardless of disciplines, all prior doctoral-level studies that started in Canada or abroad, are considered in the evaluation of eligibility, and are considered to be continuous, full-time, and uninterrupted unless otherwise confirmed by the institution (including the summer months, unless on official leave). The Vanier-Banting Secretariat will count two months of part-time study as one month of full-time study.

Students who studied on a part-time basis must outline their part-time study in the Other Application material task attachment. The information must also be reflected in the transcripts.

Joint graduate research programs

If you are registered in a joint graduate research program, and a master’s degree is obtained as part of the program (for example, MA/PhD, MS/PhD), the months of study are calculated starting from the date on which you are officially registered in the joint program (including the master’s portion of the program).

If you are registered in a joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), only the months of study in the PhD portion will be counted.

Nominating institution

The nominating institution must have received a Vanier CGS quota.

Eligibility to hold a Vanier CGS

Without exception, the Vanier CGS is tenable only at the eligible Canadian institution that submitted the nomination.

To hold the Vanier CGS, the candidate must:

• be registered^Footnote2 in a full-time doctoral program (or joint graduate research program MA/PhD, MSc/PhD, or MD/PhD) at the nominating Canadian institution;
• not hold a faculty appointment concurrently with a Vanier Scholarship unless they arrange for a leave of absence from the appointment;
• remain enrolled and demonstrate continued satisfactory progress in their doctoral program;
• not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program;
• not be concurrently holding any other CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC training award (note: Michael Smith Foreign Studies Supplement excepted); and
• begin their award within 12 months of the earliest possible start date and start on May 1, September 1, or January 1 following the offer of award.

Part-time studies

A Vanier CGS may be held by students who are registered part-time due to disability, parental or medical reasons, or family and community-related responsibilities. Requests which fall outside these areas will be reviewed by the agencies on a case-by-case basis. For eligible part-time students, the Vanier CGS will be equivalent to full-time funding spread over a longer period of time.

Canadian federal government employees

Please refer to the Tri-agency policy on the use of funds for federal government employees applying to granting agency programs to determine eligibility.

Multiple applications

Eligible candidates may apply to both the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program and other agency-specific doctoral-level scholarship/fellowships programs (whether to the same or a different federal granting agency) in the same academic year, provided that the research proposed in each application falls within the mandate of the federal granting agency to which the application is submitted. For more information, please refer to Identify area of research.

Note: since eligibility, evaluation criteria and competition deadlines are different; applications submitted to Vanier CGS are not considered in agency-specific doctoral award competitions. You must apply to each program individually.

Candidates who are successful in both competitions will have to choose which award to accept.

Deadlines

There are two deadlines pertaining to the 2024–2025 competition:

1. Institution internal deadline: Following the student’s identification in ResearchNet of the institution proposed for doctoral study (see Task 10), an additional deadline date and time will appear at the top of each page. This is the deadline by which your application must be submitted to the institution through ResearchNet. This deadline is set and controlled by each institution. You will not be able to submit your application past this precise date and time.
2. Program deadline: Institutions must forward their selected nominations to the Vanier CGS program by October 30, 2024 (20:00 Eastern Time).

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