Graduate fees and funding

1. Minimum Doctoral Stipend

Students who are enrolled full time in the PhD program receive at least $22,000 annually during their first four years in the program. Students who are externally sponsored (i.e. admitted with documented financial support from an external agency meeting the minimum amount) are not normally funded from university sources, and are exempted from the Minimum Doctoral Stipend. 

2. Minimum Stipend for Master’s students

Students who are enrolled full time in the MA program receive at least $20,000 annually during their first two years in the program.  Students who are externally sponsored (i.e. admitted with documented financial support from an external agency meeting the minimum amount) are not normally funded from university sources, and are exempted from the Minimum Stipend for Master’s students. 

3. To be eligible to receive financial support, a student must be registered full time and active in the program

Employment income as a teaching or research assistant is included in the guaranteed funding amount offered to students. Students must be available to take this employment as a GAT or GANT; otherwise the amount of the GAT or GANT refused will be deducted from the annual funding offered to the student for that academic year. More information about sources of funding is available in the Board of Governors/GSA Collective Agreement.

• All of the following count toward meeting the student’s guaranteed funding amount (i.e. the amount guaranteed in the student’s offer of admission):
• Stipend/scholarship payment from supervisor’s research grant (GAR)
• GAT/GANT income
• Research assistantship income from research grant
• Income as sessional instructor
• External scholarships
• Internal scholarships, including from program, or university competitions such as the Graduate Awards Competition
• GSA executive stipends (where GSA duties extend time in program)

4. Income not counted

Income from the following sources is not counted toward the student’s guaranteed funding amount:

• Bursaries

5. External scholarships

Students are required to apply for external scholarships for which they are eligible.

6. Success in scholarship competitions

Success in external and internal scholarship competitions will affect the student’s funding in the following way: Any student who receives a major award ($15,000 or more) will be guaranteed funding greater than the floor (specified in paragraph 1 or 2 above).

7. Reimbursement of international fee differential

International students admitted prior to Spring 2020, if resources are available, the Program will provide funding towards reimbursement of the international fee differential (specified in paragraph 1 or 2 above) for students paying their own international fees. The maximum reimbursement will be equivalent to the fee differential not paid by the Faculty of Arts.

Students whose tuition is paid by a third-party sponsor are not eligible to receive this reimbursement. 

8. Funding allocation

If a student receives an award after having received their annual funding letter from the Program, the Program may alter their funding package for that year, but in no case will the total value of the student's funding package for that year be reduced.

If a graduate student has not completed their thesis in the normal funding period (2 years for MA's, 4 years for PhD's), AND if the Program has funds available after meeting all commitments to graduate students in the normal funding period, that student may be awarded funding. This funding will be subject to the following condition: The student must submit to the Graduate Committee a written plan for completing their thesis developed in collaboration with their supervisory committee, and deemed to be feasible by the supervisor.

9. Annual tuition and fees

Students are responsible for paying tuition and fees annually. View current fee schedule.

Students with funding from university sources can apply for a payment plan. More information on payment plans.