JB9797

Has anyone heard from SSHRC when the increase payments will actually happen? They confirmed that we will get the increase (I received the letter, etc.), but they have so far only said I will receive the original award payment in November and nothing about when the increased amount will be, aside from "soon". Would be nice to know for budgeting purposes.

Ah yes I was awarded the CGS-D, but then converted to the SSHRC doctoral one as I'm at a foreign institution.

I'm assuming that all this updating regarding award amounts is making it difficult (people had to respond within a certain amount of days, they're updating all the Notice of Awards, etc). The award amounts on this list are also not updated to the current ones. As they note, all awards are on the open government portal (I'm on that one). So I think the lists are very provisional and instead of updating them, they just refer to the government platform instead.

Well strangely I'm not on the list and I have already received one instalment...so the list is clearly incomplete haha

Actually, I'm not sure about the $113,667 figure. I'm one of the 4-year award holders with a May 1, 2024 start date. While they mention the 44 months after September 1, 2024 in contrast to the 48 months total, my award ($80,000) is increased by $40,000. So I guess I would received a prorated amount in my next instalment.

Totally agree with you all. It really isn’t fair based on the announcement and how proud the government is to increase ALL awards to $40K/Year. I wasn’t ever going to use the entire 4 years anyways as I applied after I already started the PhD. I’ll probably only use 2 years total of funding (but I was still awarded the full four years of funding). In an ideal world, I should argue and get the 40K/Year and the funding stops if I ever reach 120K. I wonder if those who received a fellowship for two or three years will get $40K/Year. I’m still a bit confused, especially because I got this other reply. Does this mean I won’t be getting the full amount this year as I’ve already received a May instalment?: The award increase will be automatically applied to all new and ongoing awards. Payments will be adjusted for the prorated value of the award increase, based on the time the award is active after September 1, 2024.

I think we’re in the same boat right (Doctoral Fellowship and not the CGS?). Have you received the email yet?

Or maybe it’s because you have a CGS and I have the foreign institution one. They’ll likely reduce ours to 3 years then too.

Oh nice, thanks for the info. I wonder why I haven’t got the email yet, and I’m an award holder…probably just backed up? I guess our emails for award notification back in April did take a while

Do you mean they uploaded new documents on the extranet reflecting the new amounts (ie $40k/year)? Did you get an email notifying you?

I called the tech desk (to ask about the extranet) and all he could say was that they were in a busy period and generally behind. I also checked and my documents were also deleted, so let's just say they are preparing new ones. We might have to wait a bit longer, but would be nice if they sent a reassuring "don't worry we're on it..." sort of email.

I think we can expect both. They mentioned they would email us in July when details were finalized. On another note, I randomly went to the extranet to see if the award letter was changed, but I keep getting a “500 internal service error”. Anyone else?

Nothing 😕 I guess they did say “July” so we could be waiting another 1.5 weeks.

I understand your points, but the fact is that whether we chose May, September, or January as the first payment, we are all in the same award-year cycle, i.e., we are the same cohort. It would be odd for them to split up this group, especially when we were allowed to choose May start before the announcements were made. I've seen some professors on Twitter ask this question about their doctoral students. Regarding your point with the existing award holders, I guess it would just be that their increase would be effective for their year. In any case, I hope SSHRC has communicated the position May-holders are in. But who knows, we'll have to wait a couple more weeks to hear (hopefully it's beginning and not the end of July)

Yes I agree with you. I emailed to ask some insight, ie., will people who received a May payment only receive a partial increase to their November payment (10K then 20K, so their annual amount this year would only be 30K), and they responded by reiterating the budget statement. I take the point that "increased award values take effect as of September 1" to mean that the money will flow from September, and those who already received a payment will either receive a supplement or a bigger second instalment, so everyone in the 2024-2025 cycle will received the increased amounts, such as 40K, irrespective when their payment schedule is. Hoping this is the case...

Yes the wording is confusing and vague. I've already received my first instalment (I chose May as the start date). I emailed inquiring to ask if it means that those who requested a start date before September will receive a top-up payment. If not, this means that those in the *same* award year will receive different amounts (30,000 and 40,000). This would seem unfair, especially when we chose the May start without knowledge of the September 1st increase. I am optimistic that everyone for the 2024-2025 cycle (whether starting in May, September, or January) will receive a total of 40,000 for the year, it just means that additional funds will get released from September. Hopefully some answer soon...otherwise one month or so to wait...

How I interpreted this form is that those requirements on the top right corner correlate to what else is on that line, i.e., 'Awardees' provide the 'Award 'Number; 'Employees' give the 'PRI' number (whatever that is); 'Committee Members' provide their 'SIN', and so on. So for us, just the award number is necessary. The banking information is in the separate box. Don't forgot to also include a voided cheque (I'm with RBC and they provide an easy to access PDF copy of one online). The gov't WON'T take care of the conversion fees because those are levied by the receiving bank. Anything you need to transfer over to foreign currency, I suggest via TransferWise (known as just 'Wise' now), very fast and low fees. They have accounts in many currencies, so when you transfer, they do it for you via their local accounts and therefore you won't incur any fees beyond their minimal ones.

Does any one have an idea regarding the timeline for the first instalment? I've submitted all the forms and waiting to hear from the Program Officer (I heard from the Program Assistant that everything was forwarded). Although, my instalment form was completed with a certificate of enrolment, rather than a signature on the form...maybe that will be an issue, we'll see if I have to resubmit...anyways!

Just got my new NOA! This is what I'm thinking. The budget mentions 2024-2025. For us, that is the payments for May, September, and January. So it should affect us all, including a retroactive payment for us in May. It would be great if the gov't could give us a provisional heads us, e.g., "If the budget is passed, then it will be retroactive for awards issued this year"

Ok so we’re all getting the same wording then haha. I wonder if in the meantime we can upload the required documents (proof of citizenship and instalment form). Or maybe our award/application number will change.

Hi! Just seeing if anyone has had their CGS-D converted to the SSHRC yet. I was told “very soon”, but nothing yet…

I think it's May 24th. That was the deadline mentioned in my acceptance letter, saying I had to let them know if I accept the award or not by then--assuming the date to defer is the same.

It would be amazing if they could tell us that if the budget is passed, say it’s accepted in June by parliament, that the May payments will be affected as they are indeed part of the 2024-2025 award year the budget mentions.

Totally agree. In fact, I think it's expected that your project will change as you progress along. Only issue is probably if you change supervisors and/or the subject (like from theology to biology or something hah)

For all of those who received a CGS-D, but are at foreign institutions, I just received this clarification email from SSHRC this morning. They give you the CGS-D to incentivize you to come back to Canada, but because I won't, they have to convert to the award. I hope with the fewer funds offered to me, someone else may be eligible from the waitlist! Good morning, In this case, SSHRC offered you the CGS D because you were eligible for it (based on your score and completed months of study) in case your plans changed, and you decided to pursue your doctoral studies in Canada. However, because you intend to go abroad, the process now is for SSHRC to offer you the SSHRC Doctoral Award. A new Notice of Award will be uploaded on the SSHRC Extranet for Applicants, you will receive an e-mail once it is available. You then will need to send us an email accepting the SSHRC Doctoral Award.