Graduate Financial Support

All graduate students in the Department of Mathematics receive financial support either from scholarships, teaching appointments, or professors' research grants.

We guarantee the following funding:

  • MSc students: a minimum of $25,000 per year for the first two years
  • PhD students: a minimum of $30,000 per year for the first four years

Most students receive higher funding, from either additional research assistantships, tutorial assistantships, scholarships or other sources. Admission offer letters describe the individual funding levels for each student.

In addition, we guarantee a Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship valued between $2,500 and $10,000 to each admitted student.

Review the Graduate Student Funding Policy document for further details.

Teaching Assistantships

Typically, students who do not hold a major scholarship will hold a teaching assistantship (TA) for two semesters in an academic year, and a graduate research fellowship (GF) or research assistantship (RA) in the third semester.

An average semester's workload for a full TA appointment (5.17 base units) is 210 hours over 17 weeks. One base unit equals 42 hours of work.

Scholarships

Students can compete for a number awards before they enter the graduate program and during their studies.

NSERC

Canadian citizens and permanent residents can apply for Postgraduate Scholarships awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Students from outside Canada may be able to apply for awards for graduate study in Canada depending on their home country. Students from Commonwealth countries can apply for Commonwealth Scholarships.

Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship

The Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship (SGES) is a first-term award valued between $2,500 and $10,000. It is offered to outstanding applicants for admission who are nominated by the Graduate Program Chair of the department to which the student will be admitted.

Provost Prize of Distinction

The Provost's Prize of Distinction (PPD) is awarded to outstanding domestic students (Canadian and permanent residents) who have received a major national scholarship from one of the tri-councils (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC). Together with departmental support, this amounts to an annual $10,000 top-up for the duration of the scholarship while enrolled as a full-time graduate student in the SFU Department of Mathematics. Vanier recipients will receive the award with no cash value. Normally, the PPD award is not available to students in specialty programs.

Provost International Fellowship

The Provost International Fellowship is awarded to an International student that received a major scholarship. It is valued at $5,000 per year, and students must be nominated by their department of enrolment.

Major Entrance Scholarships

SFU has a limited number of Major Entrance Scholarships for exceptional students, valued at approximately $10,000–$18,000 per year. Duration for these awards is outlined in the Terms of Reference for each scholarship.

Private Awards

SFU offers a number of private or endowed awards to graduate students. These vary in amount and number depending on the Terms of Reference of the award, as well as the availability of funds.

Tuition Fees

All graduate students pay tuition fees upon registration each semester, according to the fee schedule set by the university. After six semesters in the MSc program, or eight semesters in the PhD program, the fee per semester is reduced by half. A more complete description of the fees is available on the Registrar's website.