Scholarships, Grants and Awards

Deadlines and Procedures

Most awards and scholarships open to students are administered through SFU using the Graduate Awards Application Adjudication System (GA3). Students should set up their GA3 profile early to simplify their application process when an award is opened to applications. Awards administered by the award-granting agency are not processed through GA3 and students apply directly to the agency. See the Terms of Reference for each award to see the specific details about the application process. It is the students responsibility to ensure that all documents arrive on time at the department. Incomplete applications cannot be considered.

Graduate Studies provides a comprehensive guide to awards available to graduate students. Refer to the Award Payment Schedule to see when you can expect funds to be transfered to your bank account based on when you accept the award.

Entrance Scholarships
SFU’s Entrance Scholarships are only available to applicants during the first semester of their program. Applicants do not apply for these awards but are nominated by the department. You may discuss your eligibility for the listed Entrance Awards with your admitting supervisor as part of the admissions process and ask if they will consider nominating you.

Graduate Fellowships
The Graduate Fellowship (GF) is a one-term award valued between $1000 and $7,000 and students must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher to be eligible. REM awards its GFs by nomination. Students cannot apply.

Incoming REM graduate students are considered for a Graduate Fellowship. The Graduate Studies Committee considers all eligible students and makes recommendations based on availability of award funds, other financial support through the supervisor or the department, and academic accomplishments. Students who do not qualify for a GF on entrance may be considered and nominated by the department once their GPA reaches the 3.5 minimum. GF funding offers cannot be guaranteed for all students and will depend on available funds.

Donor Awards
Private awards are funded by donors and the majority open to applications early in the summer term (usually May) for payment in September, with occasional awards opening in the fall for January payment. Award values are calculated based on funds available from the previous year (growth in the investment account). For awards that REM students are eligible for, see the list on the Graduate Studies website. Awards applications will be assessed over the summer with award offers going out for payment in the fall term.

Tips for applicants:

• review the terms of reference for each award well in advance of applications opening. Determine which awards you might be eligible for and review the application requirements. Christmas break is not too soon for this step.
• where a letter of recommendation from a referee will be required, be sure to notify your referee well in advance. They will submit their reference in the system, so once applications open, students need to fill in their application, and then the referee will be notified to upload their letter. Do not expect your referee to respond to an email request that arrives 24 hrs before deadline. The more notice they have for this, the better. You can alert them to the request before applications open to ensure they have time to draft a letter.
• Ensure you click all the buttons you need to click and review your application after you think you are done. There are sometimes failures in the system that result in an incomplete application or a missed deadline. Contact your GPA before the application deadline if you are not confident that your application is complete.

Travel and Research Awards (TARA)
REM opens TARA funding to applications two or three times per year. Spring awards open to applications in the fall (usually 3 weeks towards the end of October) for payment in January, summer awards cycle usually opens to applications in March for payment in the summer term, and there may be a fall application period open in the summer. You must be a registered student in the term in which the funds are being paid. Graduates can not receive awards. Include the TARA form from the forms page with your application. Total amount available will vary year-over-year; past awards are not a predictor of the future funding landscape.

Tips for applicants:

• review the Terms of Reference for the TARA awards and ensure you understand what you can and can't include.
  
• funds for TARA are limited. REM prioritizes funding for knowledge mobilization first, research second, other expenses last. Typically, TARA provides partial support and is intended to supplement or extend supervisor funding.
  
• students should submit a full accounting of anticipated expenses, but understand its highly unlikely the request will be fully funded. Reference University Policy AD 3.02, specifically Appendix 1 of the PDF file, for the current reimbursable amounts. Awards will be calculated in line with this policy; use current milage rates and per diem amounts when making their calculations.
• Amounts can be rounded to the nearest $25, it is not necessary to give a precise accounting of expenses. The minimum request is $200.
• review the full REM TARA Policy (Passed 25 February 2025) to understand how the Department applies funds to TARA expenses.

Canada Graduate Research Scholarship (CGRS) (formally Tri-Agency NSERC/SSHRC/CHRC)

See the Graduate Studies website for information about these awards. Applicants are encouraged to apply prior to being accepted to the program.

REM students may apply for either NSERC or SSHRC grants, depending on their area of research. Students can not apply for both NSERC and SSHRC.

Undergraduate students who are considering graduate school and have been out of University for a certain amount of time should check the CGRS website for the correct process of application and if they meet the minimum GPA requirements. The deadline for these applicants may be earlier than the University deadline for graduate students. Check the agency’s website for details.

Other Sources of Funding

See the Graduate Studies website for additional information regarding outside funders and other sources of funding.

Search the SFU Awards, Bursaries and Scholarships database for an up-to-date list of awards and bursaries. Some bursaries go unawarded; make an effort to apply.

MITACS
This national internship program managed by MITACS Inc connects companies and other organizations with the research expertise in Canada’s universities. See the MITACs website for full details and speak with your supervisors if you wish to pursue one of these opportunities.