University of Waterloo Ontario Graduate Scholarship for International Students, Canada 2024

Application is now open for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship at the University of Waterloo. Interested applicants are encouraged to send their applications in before the deadline date.

About the University of Waterloo and Scholarship

The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with its main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is situated on 404 hectares (998 acres) of land close to “Uptown” Waterloo and Waterloo Park. Additionally, the institution has four associated university colleges in addition to three satellite campuses. The university provides academic programs that are managed by six faculties and thirteen faculty-based schools. With over 20,000 undergraduate students engaged in the university’s co-op program, Waterloo runs the biggest post-secondary co-operative education program in the world. A collection of 15 Canadian universities with a focus on research includes Waterloo.

The Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) programs support graduate study excellence at publicly supported universities in Ontario. The Ontario government and partner institutions jointly finance both initiatives. The amount of the rewards is split evenly between the government and the university, with the remaining one-third coming from the university.

One application is used to evaluate applicants for the OGS and QEII-GSST at Waterloo. Both awards are equally prestigious. The following are the distinctions between OGS and QEII-GSST scholarships:

• OGS – open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and international students; offered for all academic study fields.
• QEII-GSST – accessible exclusively to Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are enrolled in a research-based graduate degree in one of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.

Details about the Ontario Graduate Scholarship at the University of Waterloo:

Scholarship Sponsor: University of Waterloo, Canada

Scholarship Value: $15,000

Number of awards: N/A

Study level: Postgraduate

Host Institution(s): University of Waterloo, Canada

Benefits:

Each OGS and QEII-GSST is worth up to $15,000 annually. The prize is given out in installments of $5,000 over either two or three periods. When a student receives an OGS or QEII-GSST, Waterloo recognizes their high academic success by awarding them the President’s Graduate Scholarship (PGS).

Eligibility Criteria for Ontario Graduate Scholarship

Citizenship

• A current study permit issued under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) is required of international candidates.
• Following section 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), domestic applicants must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or protected persons.

Minimum Academic Requirements

• A first-class average (minimum A-/80%) in each of the most recent two years of study (full-time equivalent) is required of applicants. 
• The grades from your most recent academic history up to August 31, 2023, regardless of program or relation to your current or intended program, are used to compute your eligibility averages. According to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) of Ontario, Waterloo must abide by these rules.

Program Of Study

• OGS grants are available to candidates in all academic fields of study (course-based AND research-based* programs).  
• Only candidates enrolled in research-based graduate programs in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) area are eligible for QEII-GSST scholarships.

*Note: Course-based students’ application packages must exhibit proof of all criteria against which their application will be evaluated, including research skills.

Registration/Admission Status

• To be eligible, international candidates must be enrolled in a graduate program at Waterloo or be on an approved leave of absence/inactive term before February 1, 2024.
  • Prospective graduate students are not eligible to apply due to the restricted number of grants available for overseas students.
• Domestic candidates must:
  • To be eligible, you must be actively enrolled in a graduate program at Waterloo or be on an accepted leave of absence/inactive term by February 1, 2024; 
  • OR you must apply for full-time graduate admission at Waterloo with a start term of spring 2024, fall 2024, or winter 2025. 

Note: All students must be enrolled full-time at the time the grant is awarded.

Time In Program

Selected beneficiaries are usually within their program time restrictions, however, students who are over their term boundaries can still apply.

Maximum Support

Master’s students may earn an OGS or QEII-GSST for a maximum of two academic years, and doctoral students may receive an OGS or QEII-GSST for a maximum of four academic years.

Furthermore, students are limited to a lifetime maximum of six (6) years of government-funded graduate grants. This lifetime limit includes awards from the following programs:

• Ontario Trillium Scholarships (OTS)
• Tri-Agency Scholarships (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, Vanier)
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS)*
• Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)*

*One or two-term awards will count as a full year in the OGS/QEII-GSST program’s calculation of lifetime maximums. 

Evaluation Criteria

The application will be evaluated by three criteria. Within the indicated ranges, each department and faculty will choose how much emphasis to give to each of the following factors:

• Academic Excellence (30-50%*); as indicated by:
  • academic transcripts
  • List of competitive scholarships, awards, and honors
• Research Ability and Potential in Program of Study (30-50%*); as indicated by:
  • publications
  • conferences
  • presentations
  • originality, artistic performance, and creations broadly defined (where relevant to the field of study)
• Communication and Leadership Abilities (10-20%*); as demonstrated by:
  • list of appropriate volunteer, leadership, and academic work experience.

*Individual faculty weights:

• Arts, Engineering: (1) 50%, (2) 30%, (3) 20%
• Health: (1) 50%, (2) 40%, (3) 10%
• Environment, Mathematics, Science: (1) 40%, (2) 40%, (3) 20%

Application Procedure for Ontario Graduate Scholarship

OGS and QEII-GSST recipients cannot transfer their awards to another university since they are not transferable. For consideration for an OGS/QEII-GSST at each institution, applicants must submit separate applications. Several OGS/QEII-GSST applications may thus need to be submitted to various universities by applicants. Each university has its own deadlines and application procedures. You can also visit the University of Waterloo website for further details.

The Application Deadline is: February 1, 2024

Not interested in this particular scholarship? See other Canada scholarships here.