Vanier Doctoral Scholarship

The Government of Canada launched the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program in 2008 to strengthen Canada's ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning. Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health.

Equity and diversity must be considered at all levels of the selection/recruitment, endorsement/Nomination and review processes of a Vanier application. The Vanier-Banting Secretariat is actively engaged in promoting equity and diversity, as well as increasing awareness of implicit (or unconscious) bias with everyone involved in the selection of a Vanier Scholar. To this end, please review the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion page.

Timelines

• July - November 2024: Applicants seeking a nominating institution, prepare and submit application package
• September 16, 2024: Internal Deadline
• October 30, 2024 8pm EDT: Deadline for institutions to submit nominations to the Vanier CGS program
• November 2024 - March 2025: Review and evaluation of nominations
• Early April 2024: Anticipated notification of results. Nominees will be notified by email when the results are available on ResearchNet
• May 1 2024, or September 1 2024, or January 1 2025: Payments begin

Value

• $50,000 per year for 3 years

Criteria

To hold the Vanier CGS, the candidate must:

• be registered in a full-time doctoral program (or joint graduate research program MA/PhD, MSc/PhD, or MD/PhD) at the nominating Canadian institution;
• not old 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 doctoral program;
• not be concurrently holding any CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC training award (except Michael Smith Foreign Studies Supplement); and
• begin their award within 12 months of the earliest possible start date on May 1, September 1, or January 1 following the offer of award.

Please see the Vanier Scholarship website for complete eligibility criteria.

Application Process

Current and prospective students will complete their Vanier application using ResearchNet, an online application system. Applicants to U of L must submit their complete application package via ResearchNet.

To apply, applicants should refer to the instructions provided by Vanier  and complete the following by the deadline noted above:

1. notify the the Graduate Funding Facilitator that you intend to apply for the Vanier Scholarship.
    
2. provide the Graduate Funding Facilitator with official and original transcripts for all post-secondary studies. Photocopies or unofficial versions of transcripts are not accepted.
   • Transcripts from domestic institution can be sent electronically to sgs.awards@uleth.ca (please ensure you have notified the Graduate Funding Facilitator).
     Transcripts from international institutions may be provided by the UL: request the registrar’s office upload them to the secured OneDrive folder that is set up for them. 
     Other institutions can send them electronically to sgs.awards@uleth.ca  
      
3. submit a completed Vanier application via ResearchNet by the deadline noted above.

Nomination Procedures:

The School of Graduate Studies will convene an adjudication committee composed of U of L faculty members to review all completed applications submitted by the deadline noted above and select U of L's nominees for the national competition.
Applicants will be notified if they are nominated to Vanier by the institution's deadline in early November.

NEW! Applicants who wish to self-declare themselves as an Indigenous* applicant are instructed to complete the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS): Voluntary Self-Identification Form for Indigenous Applicants and upload it within their application. This form may be used by Research Administrators to identify self-declared Indigenous applicants.

 * “Indigenous peoples” is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. “Aboriginal Peoples” is also sometimes used as a terminology. For the purposes of this program, the tri-agencies use the Canadian Constitution Act, 1982 definition of Aboriginal Peoples as including the First Nations, Inuk (Inuit) and Métis Peoples of Canada.

Canadian universities each have a limit to the number of nominations they may submit to the Vanier Scholarship competition. In the 2024-2025, 2025-2026, and 2026-2027 competition years, U of L has the following remaining allocation of nominations to the national competition:

• CIHR – 1 per year 
• NSERC – 1 per year  
• SSHRC – 1 per year

Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency (NSERC vs SSHRC vs CIHR)

For details about the adjudication process at the national competition level, please see the Vanier Scholarship website.

Video of the Aug 2021 Workshop: