Taxes on Stipends for Canadians in the U.S.

[RWBG]

So I'm trying to get my head around how taxes are going to work as a Canadian who is going to be doing my Ph.D in the U.S. As I understand it, Canadians have to pay federal and state income tax in the U.S., but can claim the U.S. federal income tax paid as a tax credit when filing in Canada so that they only have to pay the difference between what they would have paid in Canada and what they actually paid in the U.S. So what happens if you paid more in the U.S. than you would have paid in Canada? Do you get a tax refund? Because non-resident aliens can't claim the standard deduction, I'm pretty sure the total tax paid to the IRS on my stipend will be higher than what I would have paid in Canada... however, it's also possible that I'm completely misunderstanding the tax law, and nothing I've said here makes any sense. Help?

Edited April 5, 2012 by RWBG