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Awards & Scholarships

Updated 08/07/24

Student awards (scholarships, bursaries and grants) are non-repayable monetary awards issued based on criteria such as merit, financial need, community engagement, leadership and athletic performance. As the oldest social work school in Canada, we are fortunate to offer over 100 awards to our students, thanks to our generous alumni and donors.

  • All FIFSW program applicants are automatically considered for scholarships upon admission, and are automatically accessed with your application to the program. No further application is required. Successful applicants are informed along with their offer of admission. We are grateful to our generous donors who have provided the following entrance awards:

    • Barbara Greene Scholarship
    • Charles Grimaldi Awards
    • Mary A. Wright Award
    • Factor-Inwentash Graduate Scholarships
    • Marion C. Soloway Scholarship
    • Richard B. Splane Social Policy and Social Innovation Scholarship
    • Ridgewood Aboriginal Scholarship
    • Tammy & Jerry Balitsky Scholarship
    • SGS Inclusive Excellence Admissions Scholarship

    Applicants and students can learn more about these awards through Award Explorer

  • Application deadline, mid-September annually. Exact date TBA.

    Internal Awards are available annually to both entering and continuing students. Most of these awards require applications that are submitted in September of each year and comprise of merit based and financial need based awards. You may refer to the University’s Award Explorer for a full listing of awards.

    The Office of Student Services and Registrar emails students information on how to apply in late Summer.

  • Master’s Completion Bursary (MCB)

    Offered by the School of Graduate Studies, the MCB serves to assist master’s students who have experienced a delay in their program due to unanticipated factors beyond their control, and must therefore register as a full-time student beyond the program length to complete a small or minimal amount of work in order to graduate. 

    Masters students who meet the following criteria may apply:

    • experienced unanticipated factors or circumstances beyond their control causing a delay in their program;  
    • registered beyond the normal program length required for their degree in order to complete a minimal amount of work* (Completion of a 0.5 or 1.0 course, project, paper);
    • registered full-time and charged full-time fees in the final session of their program;
    • have been invoiced for additional sessions beyond the minimum degree fee for their program;
    • within the time limit for their degree; and 
    • received little or no funding, stipend or tuition support in their final session of registration.

    Visit the SGS page for full information, including application process and form.

    Doctoral Completion Award (DCA)

    The Doctoral Completion Award (DCA) in 2010 to provide financial assistance for full-time PhD and SJD students in the final stage of their program. DCA funds are made available to graduate faculties to support eligible students who are beyond the funded cohort but still within the time limit for the degree. The DCA is managed locally by the graduate faculty/unit.

    Graduate students experiencing a disruption in their program and/or otherwise impacted trajectory should inquire about supports and services through the Registrar’s Office.

    Applicants for the DCA must be:

    • in the sixth year of the FIFSW PhD program
    • within time limit for the degree
    • in good academic standing as defined by the graduate unit
    • a full-time PhD
    • financial need will be considered
    • Ontario residency: While students receiving a DCA are not required to be OSOTF eligible, approximately 15% of the overall DCA faculty allocations are supported through OSOTF-restricted funds and therefore must be awarded to domestic students who meet the OSOTF eligibility requirements, including Ontario residency.

    Note: Priority will be given to those who are planning to defend and finish their degree by the end of their sixth year.  

    A Completed DCA Application Will Include: 

    • FIFSW DCA Application Form (please contact the PhD Program Office for this)
    • Most recent approved PhD Annual Progress Report
    • Last supervisory committee meeting report
    • ACORN printout of transcript
    • Candidate’s CV (3-page maximum)
    • Financial need assessment; which can be met with ONE of the following:

    Please be sure to submit all documents in one email to phdprogram.fifsw@utoronto.ca and registrar.fifsw@utoronto.ca.  

    Please feel free to reach out to the PhD Program Office or the Registrar’s Office with questions.

  • The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) is for both Domestic and International students.  Applicants that apply to OGS should apply in February for the following academic year.  We encourage not only current students to apply but also applicants for the program. Students in both Professional and Thesis based programs are eligible to apply.  Our Faculty does not have any special requirements for the Plan of Study. 

    The Ontario Graduate Scholarships program encourages and supports academic excellence at the master’s and doctoral levels. This initiative is supported jointly by the province of Ontario, the University of Toronto and FIFSW. An Ontario Graduate Scholarship is held for one year ( two or three academic terms) and valued at up to $15,000 per year, thanks to the generous support of donors.

    These awards are available to domestic students (Canadian citizens or permanent residents) registering a full-time graduate program who have attained at least A- (or equivalent) in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent); or if the student has completed two years of graduate studies at the time of application, the student must demonstrate an overall average of at least A- (or equivalent) on all graduate courses completed.

    The value of the OGS is $5,000 per session. Thus, awardees may receive $10,000 for two consecutive sessions or $15,000 for three consecutive sessions.  In all instances, the awarding graduate unit will contribute to one-third the cost of the total award received by the students. Each scholarship is tenable for one year (i.e., two consecutive or three academic sessions). The value and duration of each OGS award will be determined by the awarding graduate unit and detailed in the offer letter.

    OGS Application Process: Internal FIFSW deadline: Mid to Late February prior to the year in which the award is held.

    We would like to graciously thank our OGS award donors.

    • Grace Yun King Chum
    • The Buddha’s Light International Association
    • Eva B. C. Li
    • Doctor Albert Rose
    • Sharon and Larry Enkin
    • Dr. Annie Wong
    • Wes Shera
    • E.A.G. Memorial
    • Dr. Shari Graham Fell
    • Margaret Casella & Lily Rebick
    • Mr. and Mrs. Li Shun Xing
    • Professor Chick Hendry

    Important note for prospective students: OGS awards are not transferrable between universities or between graduate units at U of T. Accordingly, students must submit an OGS application to each graduate unit for which they are seeking admission at U of T and to each Ontario institution if applying to multiple universities (each institution will have its own unique OGS application and process).

    Important note for visa students: Applicants holding a valid study permit by the graduate unit’s OGS international application deadline are eligible to apply following the same application process and internal deadlines set by their current or proposed graduate unit. Graduate units will select and forward a limited number of applications to the School of Graduate Studies to compete in a centralized adjudication.

  • Applications are due in November of each year. Exact date TBA.

    The School of Graduate Studies offers between 15–20 awards annually through it’s University Wide Award (UWA) competition. Awards vary in terms of the specific eligibility criteria (merit, financial need, student citizenship, area of research etc.) Accordingly, applicants are encouraged to review the award-specific criteria outlined within each award description, to ensure they are eligible before submitting their application. Visit the SGS UWA page for full details including eligibility criteria and application process.

  • A number of organizations offer scholarships or fellowships to both domestic and international students to study in Canada. These programs can change annually and have not been screened by FIFSW. Students are responsible for reviewing the details, particularly with regards to deadlines and eligibility. Students are also encouraged to research new opportunities on an annual basis. The following are some scholarships that have been made available to FIFSW students in the past:

  • While reviewing award descriptions within FIFSW and U of T, you may come across those designated as OSOTF or OTSS. These refer to a class of endowed awards first from Ontario government’s matching programs called Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund (OSOTF) and Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS). Under the program, donations were matched by the government as well as the University to establish permanent endowment funds to assist Ontario students with financial need.

    Please refer to the School of Graduate Studies site for full details and criteria for OSOTF/OTSS awards.