The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship — Doctoral (CGRS D) program recognizes and supports the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers.
This page provides information about the Fall 2025 Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral (CGS D) competition. For information pertaining to the Tri-agency Canada Graduate Research Scholarships Master’s (CGS M) competition, please visit the Canada Graduate Research Scholarships – Master’s (CGRS M) – CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC webpage.
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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) have been streamlined into a new harmonized talent program called the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS) that will open for applications in summer 2025.
The three national granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) have harmonized the doctoral competitions by eliminating the agency-specific awards. The CGRS D now shares the same program guide, eligibility, and selection criteria. However, each agency has maintained their own separate application portal and instructions.
The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D) program recognizes and supports the next generation of outstanding innovators, knowledge workers, creative thinkers and researchers. By providing support for high-quality research training experience to awardees, the program strives to foster impacts within and beyond the research environment:
Each eligible Canadian institution is allowed to put forward a certain number of applications to the national competition. For Fall 2025, Waterloo’s quota allocations are:
Recipients of a CGRS D who hold their scholarship at Waterloo are also eligible to receive the President’s Graduate Scholarship (PGS).
Applicants who want their application to be considered at Waterloo must abide by the following deadlines.
It is the applicant’s responsibility that the minimum eligibility criteria for this award are satisfied before they begin the application process. Interested applicants must review the eligibility and selection criteria on the official CGRS D website before beginning their application.
Note: Applicants who apply to the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s (CGRS M) program may be able to maximize their potential period of funding by applying to the CGRS M program for their first year of doctoral funding instead of the CGRS D program. Applicants are responsible for choosing the award program to which they apply.
The applicant’s registration status at the time of application will determine where their application will be forwarded to (and considered by); i.e., either through Waterloo, another Canadian university or directly by the agency.
Applicants must review the “Where to submit an application” chart on the official CGRS D Program website under “Application Procedures” to ensure their application is submitted appropriately, or their application will be deemed ineligible and rejected.
Up-to-date official transcripts from all current and previous post-secondary institutions (including transcripts from institutions where applicants completed an exchange term or if you just started your program in Fall 2025) are required as part of the application. Applicants who do not include a complete set of required transcripts will be deemed ineligible.
Applicants must follow the detailed instructions provided on each of the tri-agency websites, including how to complete the application, how to confirm the proposed research falls under the correct agency’s mandate, the number of referees required, presentation standard of the free-form documents etc.
Applicants must contact potential referees as soon as possible, but no later than 3 weeks prior to the September 16th application deadline. Reference letters must be completed for the applicant to submit their application. As such, applicants should have their referees submit their reference letters at least 3 days before the application deadline to ensure all reference letters are complete before the application is submitted. Applicants should share the following instructions with their referees:
Tips for selecting referees can be found on the Scholarship competition resources webpage.
Applicants must ensure that their proposed research project and doctoral program align with the mandate of the federal funding agency to which they are applying. To confirm the appropriate agency, please consult the Government of Canada’s guide on Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency. Note that applicants may only apply to one Tri-Agency competition. Submitting to the wrong agency could result in disqualification.
Tips for research proposals and samples of successful research proposals can be found on the Scholarship competition resources webpage.
Waterloo adheres to the following review and ranking procedure.
*Further information about our Institutional selection committee members can be found on the Scholarship competition resources webpage.
Scholarship competition resources
Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral program
Questions about Tri-Agency doctoral scholarship competition process at Waterloo may be directed to the following staff in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs:
For questions about CHIR & SSHRC
Miranda Bilotta
Manager, Graduate Financial Aid and Awards Programs
mbilotta@uwaterloo.ca
For questions about NSERC
Elena Machado
Manager, Graduate Financial Aid and Awards Programs
emachado@uwaterloo.ca
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.
