​Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's (NSERC/SSHRC & CIHR)

To be eligible to apply, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada or a Protected Person* under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) as of the application deadline date. *NOTE: Protected persons must select "Refugee" under Citizenship in the Canadian Common CV.
• be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission* to an eligible graduate program at the master’s or doctoral level at a Canadian institution with a CGS M allocation. *Note: Applicants who are not currently enrolled in their intended graduate program must submit an application for admission at McGill University by the deadline set for the intended graduate program
• have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in:
  • the master’s program for which you are requesting funding; or
  • the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding if you were admitted into a doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program (you were never registered in a master’s program, or you are registered in a combined Master’s-PhD program); or
  • a master’s program, but are requesting funding for a doctoral program (an example is a student who is fast-tracking from a master’s to a doctoral program within 12 months of starting their Master’s and is seeking funding for the first 12 months of their doctoral program); 
• or between 4 and 12 months of full-time study (or full-time equivalent) in an eligible master’s program for which the degree requirements will be completed before activation of the award, allowing it to be activated during the first 12 months of the subsequent doctoral program for which you are requesting funding
• not have previously held a CGS M;
• achieved a first-class grade point average, as determined by McGill, in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent) 
• submit a maximum of ONE CGS M application per year (the Research Portal will allow the application to be submitted to up to three universities – refer to CGS M program resources).

Students seeking support for interdisciplinary research in areas covered by more than one of the granting agencies NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC (for example, research in Biomedical Engineering) should refer to  “ Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency”.

Subject Matter Eligibility: Guidelines for the eligibility of applications related to health

There is one single application platform for all CGS Master’s students. Applicants are required to categorize their proposed “field of research” (i.e., health CIHR, natural sciences and engineering NSERC, social sciences and humanities SSHRC). For questions on how to categorize a proposal, consult with the granting agency webpage at Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency well before the deadline.

The Research Portal will instruct applicants to select up to three universities where they wish to hold the award. Please consult the CGS Master's program site for more details. 

The online application via the “Research Portal”  is hosted by NSERC and on their website. Students should only submit their applications to universities where they are currently enrolled or where they anticipate submitting an application for admission.

• Application tutorials:

1. How to apply using the Research Portal

Offers from McGill will only be made to students who will be admitted to an eligible Master’s program of study at McGill. These offers are not transferable to another institution.

Be sure to read the Agency webpage Instructions.

Additional Resources

• CGS Master's Website
• Program Overview
• McGill's Fall 2023 information presentation

• NSERC is hosting the following question and answer sessions for the CGS M program follow the link for Nov 2023 dates

Full application form on the Research Portal that must include:

• Field of Research that is appropriate
• McGill MUST be indicated as one of the Proposed Host Organizations with correct Faculty and Academic Unit/ Department / Division name
• Outline of proposed research - uploaded by applicant in correct format

One (1) page for Proposal. Proposal may NOT extend into next page AT ALL.

One (1) page for Bibliography/Citations.

**Be SURE to adhere to ALL specified formatting; especially with respect to number of pages permitted per document or document section. Non conforming formatting may render application inadmissible.

• Up-to-date official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate studies must be included in the application, including transcripts for the CURRENT FALL SEMESTER.  Transcripts must be accompanied by their respective transcript key/legend.

How to deal with McGill pdf transcripts for upload

Downloadable McGill Transcript KEY

• Two Reference Assessments - A tutorial video for Canada Graduate Scholarships Master’s Instructions for Completing a Reference Assessment Form is now available. Please share this with your referee.
• Canadian Common CV -This must be validated for the correct funding agency. Instructions for completing a Canadian Common CV

Downloadable Application Checklist

If you have been awarded the above fellowship, please refer to Accepting, activating and maintaining your award. Among other items, this page contains links to respective agency Award Holder's Guide, Payment Activation forms etc.

The deadlines for these items are as follows:

Please note that should the student status change in any way during the course of the award, it is the responsibility of the awardee to notify the Academic Unit, GPS Funding Unit, and the Agency.