Departmental Funding
The 2026-2027 guaranteed annual minimum stipend is $29,530 for Master's and $30,652 for PhD. The minimum stipend is guaranteed for all full-time graduate students, both domestic and international. (An exception is for students who already have a higher stipend, such as students who are have government funding from their home countries.) Students are responsible for paying tuition and fees. 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 (CGRS, OGS), internal awards, Teaching Assistant positions (TA), and Research Assistant positions (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 students will have a higher guaranteed annual stipend depending on their program. International Master's students will also receive a tuition subsidy equivalent to the difference in tuition fees between domestic and international Master's students (currently $7,039.47). Both Master's and PhD international students will receive an additional payment to cover the cost of health insurance (currently $948).
An annual increase of $204 in year 2 for Master's and PhD, $408 in year 3 and $612 in year 4 for PhD will be applied to the minimum annual stipend.
For most students, Teaching Assistant employment is a mandatory part of the annual minimum stipend. Most students work two TA positions in Fall term and two in Winter term (~110 hours each term, for a total of ~220 hours). Some supervisors may decide that their students have a smaller TA workload, in which case the minimum annual stipend will not be reduced, and the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) will increase to compensate for the reduced TA amount. If a student decides to do less than the mandatory TA workload, and the supervisor does not agree to cover the difference, then the student's stipend will be reduced accordingly. Students with major scholarships will have smaller TA workload requirements.
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.
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/Amount | QGA | Awards GRF Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 500-2499 | 5000 | 1250 |
| 2500-4999 | 5000 | 2500 |
| 5000-7499 | 5000 | 3750 |
| 7500-9999 | 5000 | 5000 |
| 10000-14999 | 4250 | 5000 |
| ~15000 | 3750 | 5500 |
| 27000 (CGRS-M) | 0 | 6750 |
Some awards that fall within the ranges above are not eligible for the GRF bonus. 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 bonus.
Graduate students pay tuition and fees as set out by the Office of the University Registrar.
Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (PPL)
Eligible graduate students can register for the Pre-Authorized Payment Plan (PPL). There is no fee 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-enrol 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-Enrolment period is:
Fall plan: August 10 - September 30
Winter plan: December 1 - January 31
Summer plan: April 1 - May 30
Within each academic year, students will be automatically rolled over into the next semester's payment plan unless they opt-out. If you are already enrolled in the PPL in Fall, you do not need to re-enrol in Winter, and if you are already enrolled in Winter, then you do not need to re-enrol for Summer.
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.