Departmental Funding

Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies

Minimum Funding

PhD Students

Full-time Canadian students: minimum $22,000 annually for up to four years

International students: minimum $24,000 annually for up to four years

MSS Students

Thesis full-time students: minimum $10,000 for years one and two* 

Course-based full-time students: minimum $10,000 for first year*

*Funding for following years is determined based on acceptable progress and available funding.

Eligibility for Financial Support

To be eligible to receive financial support, you must be registered full time and active in the program:

  • If you are receiving funding from your supervisor’s grant, you must be available to fulfill your supervisor’s reasonable expectations regarding attendance and activity in the research environment.
  • Employment income as a teaching assistant or sessional instructor, though rarely offered, may be included in the guaranteed funding amount offered. You must be available to take this employment as a GAT or GANT or sessional instructor; otherwise, the amount of the GAT or GANT or sessional contract refused will be deducted from your annual funding offered to the for that academic year.
  • To be eligible for scholarships/stipends paid as scholarships offered by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, or competitive university scholarships, you should not normally hold full-time paid employment outside of the university while registered as a full-time student.

Sources of funding

All of the following sources of funding count toward meeting your guaranteed funding amount (i.e. the amount guaranteed in your offer of admission):

  • Stipend/scholarship payment from the supervisor’s research grant
  • GAT/GANT income
  • Sessional instructor income
  • Research assistantship income as outlined in funding letter
  • External scholarships, including but not limited to SSHRC/QEII
  • Internal scholarships, including from program, or university competitions, such as the Graduate Awards Competition, and so on.

Scholarships and departmental funding

Success in external and internal scholarship competitions will affect the student’s funding in the following way (excluding departmental program recommended awards):

Awards under $1000

For awards whose combined annual totals are $1000 or less, funding as set out in the letter of admission will not be reduced

Awards over $1001

For awards whose combined annual totals are greater than $1000, funding as set out in the admission letter may be reduced so that your total funding for the year will be guaranteed funding plus $1000

Awards over $15000

For awards whose combined annual totals are greater than $15000, funding as set out in the admission letter may be reduced so that your total funding for the year will be guaranteed funding plus $2000

Departmental payment guidelines

Tuition and general fees are the responsibility of the student.

Tuition Fees and fee reductions

  • For PhD students: tuition fees (both international and domestic) are substantially reduced by the Faculty of Graduate Studies in the semester immediately following completion of all candidacy requirements
  • For MSS students: tuition fees (both international and domestic) are substantially reduced by the Faculty of Graduate Studies after the first year in the program
  • International students may be eligible to receive a partial return of the international portion of their tuition fees

Payment Schedule

  • You will not receive their first payment until the 25th of the first month they are receiving funding or awards.
  • GAT payments will be dispersed in beginning the 25th of the first month and thereafter on the 10th and 25th until the 10th of the month after you complete their GAT positions. Payment will always be 10 days in arrears
  • Scholarship/award payments are dispersed on the 25th of each month of the award duration.

Funding during spring/summer semester

Funding is normally dispersed only in the Fall and Winter semesters but graduate you will also owe fees for Spring/Summer semester whether you are taking courses or not. Students should take these Spring/Summer fees into account when budgeting.

Remember: Awards which begin in the Spring/Summer semester (for returning students) will be counted in your overall funding package for the next year; however, you will be paid according to the schedule set out in the terms of the award.

Graduate student payment plan

  • You may be eligible to pay their fees on a deferral basis rather than by the fee deadline each semester.
  • Keep in mind that any deferral of fees should match the time period you know they will be receiving funding.
  • The Graduate Program Administrator must sign all completed Graduate Student Payment Plan Applications before students submit them to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Learn more

Support for graduate student travel

We encourage you to engage in professional and career development activities associated with their degrees such as conference attendance, field research, and methods training. However, the availability of travel grants each year is dependent on the availability of funds. You must have exhausted other sources of travel assistance before they are eligible to apply to the Graduate Program for a travel grant. Graduate program applications must include the following:

  • The name and location of conference or research centre, date of departure and return.
  • If you are presenting a paper, the name of the paper and evidence of acceptance by the conference.
  • Estimated expenses for travel and lodging.
  • A letter of support from your supervisor.
  • A list of the other sources of funding to which you have applied for or received.

Graduate program travel grant application form and instructions

You must complete the Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Travel Award Application and submit it to the Graduate Program Administrator, along with scanned copies of the original receipts.

Other Sources of travel assistance or grants

The following travel grants are available at the University. To maximize their chances of finding suitable funding, you should familiarize themselves with the rules and timelines associated with the following grants:

  • The Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) Travel Award for Canadians and Permanent Residents. Look for “Faculty of Graduate Studies Travel Awards”
  • The University Research Grant Competition (URGC)Services Graduate Conference Travel Award(for international students on a student visa) and then look under the heading “Internal Grants”)
  • The University Research Grant Competition (URGC)Thesis/Dissertation Research Grantand then look under the heading “Internal Grants”)
  • The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA)Professional Development Grants.