PhD Funding in Canada

[deconstructing]

Sorry for a potentially dumb thread, but I was wondering about scholarship/fellowship/assistantship situation for PhD students in Canada. I know US universities offer plenty of opportunities for this type of PhD funding, but I can't seem to find anything conclusive about Canada (save for the Vanier scholarship, but it's very prestigious and I don't even dream to reach that high... or maybe I should?)

 

I am a prospective international student interested in humanities and social sciences. I'm particularly interested in the University of Alberta. 

 

Once again, I am sorry for this basic question but I can't seem to find any solid info on this. Are TA practiced in Canada and how does this reflect tuition fees and living costs (is it possible to pay for both with your TA or a scholarship)?

[lewin]

I think you'll find that programs offer funding that's comparable to similar American universities, though it's weird you can't find the information online. For example, my university in psychology offers a minimum of $24k/year in internal funding, from which one pays $7k/year tuition. For that you TA 10 hours per week, the rest is scholarship money. If you have an external award you get more money and a reduced TA load. Something to keep in mind is that the stipend might look slightly higher but you'll probably have to pay tuition which, thankfully, is much less than American tuition because it's heavily subsidized by the government.

 

There are other scholarships from SSHRC and provincial agencies (like the Ontario Graduate Scholarship) but they might be limited to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

[surefire]

Many offers of admissions to programs are accompanied by full funding (though there are some MA programs, I can think of 4 at U of T, that are getting "Americanized" and not offering funding, which is pretty dire when having an MA in hand is not optional for PhD admission like it is in the states).

Anyway, you should know that the caveat re: full-ish funding is that international spots are hyper-competitive, because international student fees are much MUCH higher, so departments are often limited in how many they can admit. You mention the humanities and social sciences... I'm in Sociology and most departments that I'm familiar with take two-ish students every cohort (we had 3 in a cohort of 15; the incoming cohort for September, of a comparable size, has only admitted ONE).

 

There are supplemental bursary and scholarship opportunities through institution-specific departments and school of graduate studies. As well, 25%-ish of the Trudeau scholarships go to international students. Honestly though, you need to garner a bit more admit info to get a better sense of how to manage your expectations.

 

My Sociology buddies at U of A really enjoy it. Check out the ISS, it should be helpful for you: http://www.iss.ualberta.ca/

 

Good luck!

[deconstructing]

Thanks for the help!

 

I know it's competitive; it goes without saying. I was just trying to find some solid info because U of A website was full of broken links last time I checked (at least when it comes to anthropology, which is what I'm mostly interested in). I can see that they've fixed most of them by now but the info provided is not detailed enough. For example:

 

http://gradstudies.ualberta.ca/awardsfunding/scholarships/recruitment/doctoralrecruitment.aspx

 

There doesn't seem to be any information on the scholarship amount or what it covers.

 

It's just an example. I know my question is pretty basic and too broad and it's not like I am lazy to do my homework. I just wanted to make sure there is full funding provided. I understand it makes the whole process super-competitive, but since I can't study without full funding, being accepted without funding means nothing to me.

 

Thanks for the help and links and once again, I apologize for asking such a broad/basic question!

[marxistfeministdialectic]

I'm an international student and I applied to a PhD program at a Canadian university and I understand the desire for some specific figures.  I think my department's website just said funding was guaranteed but nothing specific about *how much*.  After I was accepted I was informed of the specific figures (total amount - international tuition = money for cost of living) and that helped me to make my final decision.  I imagine that's how it works at other universities.

 

Good luck!

[deconstructing]

Thank you! I guess it's all I needed to know.