This new suite consolidates and streamlines funding opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers across disciplines. While full details will be released in the coming months, the agencies have now published the updated program descriptions for:

• (CGRS M)
• (CGRS D)
• (CPRA)

Ten programs will sunset, and funds will be reprofiled to CRTAS:

• Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s
• Canada Graduate Scholarships – Doctoral / CIHR Doctoral Foreign Study Award / NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships / SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships / Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
• CIHR Fellowship / NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships / SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships

The new harmonized programs within CRTAS are:

• Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s (CGRS M)
• Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D)
• Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA)

For the upcoming 2025/2026 competition cycle:

• minimal changes to processes of past programs for seamless transition
• open for applications in summer 2025
• deadlines varying by agency and program
• applicants will continue using the funding agencies’ current online systems

Students and faculty are strongly encouraged to review the updated program descriptions now to begin preparing for the upcoming competitions. The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) will share further updates on the official competition launches, institutional deadlines, and details about upcoming workshops and scholarship programming to support students applying to these awards later in Summer 2025.

New Award Programs at a Glance

Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s (CGRS M)

Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D)

Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA)

Additional Key Points

• The Black Scholars initiative will be eligible under the new CGRS M, CGRS D, CPRA as well as continue for the USRA funding opportunity.
• The Canada Graduate Scholarships Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (CGS MSFSS) will be launched one last time during the 2025-26 competition cycle. The program will be rebranded and redesigned as a supplement for the CRTAS.
• In anticipation of the launch of the Tri-agency grants management solution (TGMS), the application materials for the new CRTAS program may be adjusted, but the overall submission process and key deadlines for the 2025/2026 competition cycle will generally remain consistent with those of previous years.

The post Important Updates to Tri-Agency Graduate and Postdoctoral Funding appeared first on Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS).

Attendees can gain an inside view on how to successfully complete award applications and leverage all the resources available externally and internally at 91��ɫ. The goal of this workshop is to share new funding opportunities to support Black scholars, such as the Bennett Family Graduate Scholarship for Black and Indigenous Students as well as other scholarships and awards. Additionally, the workshop will cover resources and guides available for developing successful grant proposals, writing reference letters for scholarship applications, and making the overall application stand out.

Students can also find out about the self-identification forms and questionnaires implemented by FGS. The optional self-identification questions in award applications are important to determine eligibility for funding opportunities targeting specific equity-deserving groups and implement funding equalization measures. Students can include relevant information in the special circumstances form on their applications to explain any personal circumstances (including gender, race, diversity, ability, sexuality, health disparities, educational access, etc.) that have played a role in shaping their path in order to allow for a fair assessment of their research productivity.

Students would not want to miss the featured speakers including seasoned Black faculty members: Dr. Andrea Davis, Professor, Dept. of Humanities; Dr. Jude Dzevela Kong, Professor, Dept. of Math & Statistics; and Dr. Tokunbo Ojo, Associate Dean, Students, Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Attendees can also gain advice from their colleagues, and other graduate scholars who hold prestigious awards including Joseph Agyapong, Susan Mann Dissertation Awardee (2023), PhD student in Mechanical Engineering; Balikisu Osman, Vanier Scholar (2020), PhD student in Environmental Studies; and Danielle Washington, CIHR CGSD Awardee (2023), PhD student in Nursing.  

The panelists will speak on their personal experiences, scholarship successes, and how to successfully leverage all the resources available. The panels will address common questions that are important to consider such as: What challenges did you face when completing your scholarship application? Who did you lean on for support? What resources did you find most helpful? What do you know now that you wish you knew before you started the program? And, more!

The online workshop creates a collegial space and aims to bring people together to share experiences, learn from one another, and support each other’s efforts. Through this event, incoming and current graduate students can start building and keep developing a support network at 91��ɫ. We encourage faculty members and staff to share this initiative with their incoming and current graduate students. For more details and registration, please visit our .

Update: This session has been recorded and can now be viewed on our YouTube channel: .

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Professor Lisa Philipps, 91��ɫ’s Provost & Vice-President Academic, believes that “building new paths and welcoming spaces for diverse voices to thrive in the academy and beyond is vitally important.” Phillips continues by saying that the Provost Postdoctoral Fellowships for Black and Indigenous Scholars is “a reflection of the inclusive higher education environment that we are committed to creating at 91��ɫ.”

Professor Thomas Loebel, Associate Vice-Provost Graduate and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies adds, however, that “as a program, these fellowships manifest a challenge that 91��ɫ has put to itself, which is to work with emerging scholars in individualised ways and to understand their needs as these emerge through the research process. Our goal is to help connect postdoctoral scholars to the incredible community that is 91��ɫ, so that with this program we can create something truly career developmental.”

Godwin Dzah (Osgoode Law) comes to 91��ɫ having recently completed a doctorate in Law at the University of British Columbia. Dzah’s research proposes a fundamental revaluation of how International Environmental Law deploys concepts of crisis in ways that limit the potential for more sustained and complete forms of transformation. "The historical significance of this award is an ever-present reminder of the unfinished task of addressing systemic challenges. I am looking forward to advancing this cause by expanding my teaching and research interests which sit at the intersection of international law and the environment by demonstrating the common interests and connections between the peoples of the Global South and their counterparts, the Indigenous peoples in the Global North, in the context of the law and politics of international environmental law. I am grateful to the leadership at Osgoode Hall Law School, my supervisor Professor Obiora Okafor, and especially to 91��ɫ for this exciting opportunity."us posuere, eget vulputate magna suscipit.

_{Godwin Dzah}

Don Davies (Biology, Science) is currently a postdoctoral researcher at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. Davies’ research investigates a novel approach to the causes of Alzheimer’s Disease, arguing that processes of forgetting are naturally amplified in major neurodegenerative diseases. “The Canadian Indigenous population has an increased prevalence and earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease than the Canadian non-Indigenous population. This opportunity will allow me to establish a research program to study Alzheimer’s disease within the Indigenous community and accelerate growth in scholarly diversity through development of an academic pipeline for Indigenous scientists. I am very grateful for the advice from Dr. Steven Connor who will be mentoring me during my postdoctoral fellowship.”

_{Don Davies}

De-Lawrence Lamptey (Critical Disability Studies, Health) is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia. Lamptey’s research introduces an intersectional approach to the study of the material, social, and financial barriers black children and their families are faced with in Canada. “91��ɫ’s commitment to support Black and Indigenous scholars is very remarkable, and I am proud to be an inaugural recipient. This fellowship is a recognition of the unique and complex challenges that Black and Indigenous scholars often confront as we pursue our career ambitions. My research will be exploring the intersectionality of race/ethnicity and disability among children and youth in Canada. I look forward to making a positive difference in society through this fellowship.”

_{De-Lawrence Lamptey}

Ruth Murambadoro (Gender, Sexuality and Women Studies, LAPS) is currently a lecturer at the Wits Schools of Governance at the University of Witswatersrand (South Africa). Murambadoro’s research explores how women who have experienced state-sanctioned violence in Zimbabwe deploy narrative to advance the goal of gender justice. “My project, ‘Gender justice and narratives of violence by women in post-colonial Zimbabwe,’ involves working with women’s social movements and the diaspora to produce new insights on how networks of women provide avenues for healing, justice and peace, outside the auspices of the state. This work focuses on women’s encounters of state-sanctioned violence and living under dictatorial rule for the past 40+ years. I am delighted to join the Centre for Feminist Research at 91��ɫ to work closely with Dr Alison Crosby as a fellow under the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowships for Black & Indigenous Scholars.”

_{Ruth Murambadoro}

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