etoile15

Thanks for the all information! If anyone else has anything else to contribute, I'm all ears! I've also got another question: based on your responses, is it accurate to say that most everyone gets external funding? Aren't there possibilities for TAships or RAships? I need to work on my teaching, and I'd love to be a RA too (I love researching!), but are these options less common? Again, cheers for the info you've shared so far!

Hello everyone, After a few years away from academia, I have decided that I want back in. I miss researching too much, and cannot stand the idea of spending my entire life slaving away in corporate America. I am aiming to begin in fall 2012. My field is French literature, and I have decided that I wish to do my doctorate in Canada. I have spoken with some of my mentors about these plans, and most of them think it'd be a great idea, because one of my interests is Québec literature (and also Acadian literature). However, one of my mentors has warned me that going to school in Canada may be risky as far as funding goes. Like most everyone else, I am not independently wealthy, and must get some funding in order to complete a PhD. Most all of the schools I'm looking at are in the province of Québec (Laval, Université de Montréal, McGill, possibly UQAM...), with the exception of the University of Western Ontario in London. This is for obvious reasons: part of my thesis will have to do with Québec and/or Acadian literature, so naturally I want to go somewhere in Québec; however, if there are schools elsewhere in Eastern Canada (or Ontario), I'd be open to other suggestions if anyone has any. My question is the following: will I realistically be able to secure enough funding to be able to afford living up there? Obviously, I realize that I will not be making tons of money, but I want to be able to survive without taking out too many more loans or constantly asking family to borrow money. Keep in mind that I am not Canadian, but that I am from the US...are there any scholarships specifically for people with my profile (an American, studying French literature in Canada, who already holds a MA in French Lit from a public top-30 institution in the US)? I know that Québec is trying to preserve the French language and culture, so maybe there's special funding put in place for those who study Francophone lit/culture in Québec? I know my MA school is respected up there; while doing my MA, I presented at a prestigious conference at the University of Toronto, and everyone seemed in awe about the school where I got my MA. Thanks!