Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)

Overview

The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) programs encourage excellence in graduate studies at publicly-assisted universities in Ontario. Since 1975, the OGS program has been providing merit-based scholarships to Ontario’s best graduate students in all disciplines of academic study. In 1998, the Ontario government introduced the QEII-GSST, a merit-based scholarship program targeted specifically toward graduate students in science and technology.

Please note: The funding and university quotas for the OGS and QEII-GSST programs are contingent on the continued support from the provincial government.

Value and duration

$15,000 annually or $5,000 per term for a minimum of two terms and a maximum of three terms

Eligibility

To be considered for an OGS/QEII*, a student must be:

• A Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident or Protected Person [under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protections Act (Canada)] at the time of the OGS application deadline date.

• International students who are studying in Ontario with a student study permit under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) are eligible for the allotted international student award.

• Within their standard program length (normally four years of full-time study, or equivalent) for a doctoral student.

• Enrolled or plan to enrol in a full-time program of study (Rearch Based) at Ontario Tech for the academic year following the year of application that leads to a graduate degree and is approved for operating grant purposes by the ministry.

*To be considered for a QEII-GSST award, a student must be enrolled in a research master's or doctoral program in a science and technology discipline.

Students who have OSAP restrictions may apply to an OGS if the other eligibility criteria are met; however, they must clear the restrictions before the funds may be disbursed. An OGS may be cancelled if the OSAP restrictions cannot be cleared.

Minimum academic requirements

An applicant must, at minimum, meet the following academic requirements:

• Students entering the first or second year of graduate studies at the time of application deadline must have achieved a first-class average (at least 3.70/4.30 or A‐, or the equivalent) in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent).

• Students entering the third year or beyond of graduate studies at the time of application deadline must have an overall average of at least A-, or the equivalent, on all graduate courses completed.

• If master’s or doctoral degree marks used for calculating an applicant’s grade point average (GPA) are not available (e.g., courses were graded on a pass/fail basis), then SGPS will use the most recently available university marks to calculate an applicant’s GPA.

Recipients cannot be enrolled in a qualifying or make-up year, or be on a paid educational leave or sabbatical.

Concurrent support

Recipients may not concurrently hold an OGS or QEII-GSST award in addition to a tri-council award, including:

• The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Program (SSHRC).

• The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Program (NSERC).

• The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).

Maximum support

Students cannot exceed a lifetime maximum of six years of government-funded graduate awards. Awards under the following programs are counted towards this lifetime maximum:

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS)

• Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEIIGSST)

• Ontario Trillium Scholarships (OTS)

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

• Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)

• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS)