Departmental Funding
The 2024-2025 guaranteed annual minimum stipend is $27,530 for MSc and $28,652 for PhD. Students are responsible for paying tuition and fees from this amount. This financial support may come from a variety of sources and may differ between students. These sources include supervisor-paid Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF), external scholarships (NSERC, OGS), internal awards, Teaching Assistantships (TA), and Research Assistantships (RA). This support is guaranteed for all full-time graduate students for up to two years of a MSc program and up to four years of a PhD program.
International MSc students may receive an additional $7,000 in the form of a Department International Tuition Award (DITA) to help offset the higher tuition costs, if available.
An annual increase of $200 in year 2 for MSc and PhD, $400 in year 3 and $600 in year 4 for PhD will be applied to the minimum annual stipend to reflect TA/RA rate increases.
Additional Funding
All eligible students are encouraged to apply for external and internal awards. Additional award & scholarship information can be found on the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs' website. Students who hold scholarships and awards may receive a top-up in addition to the minimum stipend depending on the combined value of their awards.
To receive the minimum annual stipend, students are required to apply for four TA positions unless their supervisor agrees that the student may hold less TA positions. In this case, the supervisor must compensate for the reduced TA pay by correspondingly increasing their GRF contribution. Students who have scholarships and awards should discuss with their supervisor about a possible reduction in TA positions.
Applications for bursaries are also available to qualified students on the Students Awards web site.
Students who hold a scholarship or award within a certain value range will receive the following top-ups to the minimum annual stipend based on the combined value of their awards. The top-ups are paid as GRF (paid by the student's supervisor). For domestic students who are eligible for QGA, the QGA allotment may also change, as indicated in the table below:
| Award Range | QGA | Award GRF Top-up |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1999 | 5000 | 1250 |
| 2000-4999 | 5000 | 2500 |
| 5000-6999 | 5000 | 3750 |
| 7000-9999 | 5000 | 5000 |
| 10000-14999 | 4250 | 5000 |
| 15000 | 3750 | 5500 |
Some awards that fall within the ranges above are not eligible for the GRF top-up. For example, the GETA (Graduate Entrance Tuition Award, for domestic students) and the DITA (Departmental International Tuition Award, for international students) are not eligible for GRF top-ups. Both the GETA and the DITA are added on top of the Minimum Annual Stipend. The GETA is expected to be used for paying tuition. The DITA is intended to offset the higher tuition cost for international MSc students.
Major external awards (NSERC, Vanier) are not eligible for a GRF top-up. All new graduate students who hold an NSERC also receive the TARRA (Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award), which is $5000 and is only available in the first year of holding an NSERC.
Graduate students pay tuition and fees as set out by the Office of the University Registrar.
Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (PPL)
Eligible graduate students may register for the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (PPL). There is no fee or extra charge to join the payment plan.
The PPL will pick up fees that have been assessed in SOLUS and divide the amounts owing over the scheduled withdrawal dates of the plan. Every academic year, you must self-enroll on SOLUS in a payment plan for that academic year if you wish to participate. You will not be automatically enrolled in the next academic year.
The Self-Enrollment period is as follows:
Fall plan: July 1 - September 30
Winter plan: December 1 - January 31
Summer plan: April 1 - May 30.
Students who are enrolled in the Fall plan as of January 20 will be automatically enrolled in the Winter plan. Students who are enrolled in the Winter plan as of April 30 will be automatically enrolled in the Summer plan for that particular academic year.
For more information and how to self-enrol on SOLUS, check the Office of the Registrar's website.
Dates & Deadlines
For students not on the PPL, fees are due according to the regular due dates.
Fall Tuition: September 30
Winter Tuition: January 10
Summer Tuition: May 1
MSc Stipend Comparison
| CHEM DEPT | Stipend | Tuition & Fees | Take Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's | $27,530 | $7,308 | $20,222 |
| McMaster | $27,750 | $8,392 | $19,358 |
| Waterloo | $27,030 | $8,409 | $18,621 |
| Western | $27,636 | $8,859 | $18,777 |
| Ottawa | $26,000 | $9,768 | $16,232 |
PhD Stipend Comparison
| CHEM DEPT | Stipend | Tuition & Fees | Take Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's | $28,652 | $7,308 | $20,222 |
| McMaster | $29,750 | $8,392 | $21,354 |
| Waterloo | $27,270 | $8,409 | $18,861 |
| Western | $27,636 | $8,859 | $18,777 |
| Ottawa | $26,000 | $8,763 | $17,237 |