Canada Graduate Research Scholarship, Master's Program (CGRS M)

Who can apply

Must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or Protected Person as of the application deadline date
Must be registered in, have applied for, or will apply for admission to an eligible master's or direct-entry doctoral programme, startable within the competition year, at a Canadian institution with a CGRS M allocation
Programme of study must be predominantly research-oriented, leading to a thesis, major research project, dissertation, or equivalent merit-reviewed output; coursework-only master's programmes are typically not eligible
As of 31 December of the application year, must have completed between 0 and 12 months of full-time study in the funded programme (with a separate 4-to-12-month window for master's students transitioning into an eligible doctoral programme at the same institution)
Must have achieved a first-class average in each of the last two completed years of study, though institutions may waive this at their discretion
Cannot have previously held or currently hold a Master's-level scholarship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC
May apply to only one Canada Research Training Awards Suite programme (CGRS M, CGRS D or CPRA) per academic year, across all three agencies; if more than one is submitted, only the first eligible application is retained
Awards are tenable only at eligible Canadian institutions, without exception

Not a route into Canada, unlike CGRS D’s small international allowance

This scholarship has no international-applicant carve-out at all. Unlike the doctoral-level Canada Graduate Research Scholarship, Doctoral Program (CGRS D), which reserves up to 15 per cent of awards for non-Canadians already enrolled at an eligible Canadian institution, CGRS M’s eligibility rule requires you to already be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or Protected Person as of the application deadline. There is no pathway here for an international applicant studying, or planning to study, in Canada.

One scholarship, three levels of programme it can fund

CGRS M isn’t limited to a standard one-year master’s. The eligible-programme list also covers a doctoral programme entered directly from a bachelor’s degree without ever registering in a graduate programme first (direct entry), a combined master’s-doctoral programme, and a “fast-track” master’s that transitions into an eligible doctoral programme, with or without the master’s degree itself being conferred first. Read the full completed-months window closely: most applicants need between 0 and 12 months of full-time study completed by 31 December of the application year, but master’s students planning a fast-track into a doctorate get a separate 4-to-12-month window instead.

The deadline printed on the page has no year attached

As with the doctoral-level CGRS D, NSERC’s own page states the CGRS M deadline only as “December 1 before 8:00 pm (ET),” without stating which year that applies to on the overview page itself. Treat it as a standing annual date rather than a one-off, and confirm the current cycle’s status directly with the Research Portal or your intended institution before relying on it. Most applicants also answer to an earlier internal deadline set by their own university’s faculty of graduate studies, a date NSERC’s page does not publish centrally.

The programme funds up to 3,298 students a year, and merit review has fixed weights

CGRS M is not a small programme: the agencies jointly support up to 3,298 students annually across all disciplines. Selection is carried out at the institutional level against three weighted criteria published on the overview page: academic excellence at 50 per cent, research potential at 30 per cent, and personal characteristics and interpersonal skills at 20 per cent. You may apply to up to three institutions in a single application cycle through the Research Portal.

Extra funding exists for Indigenous and Black student researchers

Beyond the base $27,000, the agencies run two separate targeted funding tracks. Meritorious Indigenous applicants (First Nations, Inuit or Métis, with a nation or community located in Canada) may receive a $5,000 Indigenous Scholars Supplement, and those placed on the alternate list may instead receive a full $27,000 Indigenous Scholars Award plus the $5,000 supplement, subject to available funding and Tri-agency citizenship and membership affirmation requirements. Separately, each of the three agencies reserves up to 20 additional CGRS M awards specifically for Black student researchers who self-identify and consent to be considered, twice the six seats the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) reserves at the postdoctoral level for the same group.