StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) is the Government of Ontario’s merit-based scholarship for graduate students, running since the 1970s under Ontario Regulation 400/00. It is not a single national competition: each participating Ontario university runs its own OGS competition, sets its own deadline, and selects its own recipients, within the province’s rules. The province pays two-thirds of each award and the host university pays one-third.
The award is CAD $5,000 a term — $10,000 for two consecutive terms, $15,000 for three — for a maximum of one year at a time. That is real money towards a graduate degree, but it is partial funding: it does not automatically cover full tuition, accommodation, travel, health insurance or living costs. And the deadline you must meet is your university’s, not the province’s — the earliest confirmed for 2027–28 is 16 November 2026 at Carleton University, and other universities close later, some as late as April 2027.
Eligibility
- Be enrolled, or intend to enrol, in a Master’s or PhD programme, in any discipline, at a participating Ontario university.
- Be a Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident, or Protected Person at the application deadline; international students only if already studying in Ontario on a valid study permit (allotted international awards). Students living abroad cannot apply directly.
- Hold a minimum GPA of 10.0 (A−) in each of the last two years of full-time study (Carleton scale; students in the 3rd year or later of graduate study need 10.0 overall on graduate courses).
- Be enrolled, or intend to enrol, full-time in 2027–28 (part-time only for students with a documented disability).
- Excluded: students in an extension term; students in default on a Canadian government-sponsored student loan; students holding OGS concurrently with SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR, Vanier, QEII-GSST or another OGS.
- Support limits: a Master’s student may hold OGS for at most 2 academic years, a doctoral student for at most 4 years, and no student may receive more than 6 years of government-funded graduate awards in a lifetime.
Benefits
- CAD $5,000 per term; $10,000 for two consecutive terms; $15,000 for three consecutive terms (maximum one year; minimum two consecutive terms).
- Jointly funded: the Ontario government pays two-thirds, the host university one-third.
- Available at participating Ontario universities (19 universities, including Toronto, Waterloo, McMaster, Queen’s, Ottawa, Western and York).
- Note that this is partial funding — it does not automatically cover full tuition, accommodation, travel, health insurance or living costs.
Documents to prepare
- Official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate studies, up to date (including the fall term of the application year); a certified translation if they are not in English or French.
- A citizenship document (birth certificate, passport or PR card) or a Canadian study permit for international applicants.
- The OGS application form, application checklist and research / program statement.
- One academic reference / assessment, submitted directly by the referee (Carleton referee deadline 2 December 2026).
- Optional: an awards page and a publications page.
- Note that this list is from the official Carleton page. Bright Scholarship’s claim of two letters of recommendation and a health certificate is wrong — one reference, no health certificate.
How to apply
- Choose a participating Ontario university and check its OGS deadline — there is no central provincial application.
- At Carleton: apply online through Carleton Central (MC1 credentials) under Awards and Financial Assistance, or submit a PDF application package to the department’s Graduate Administrator (for external applicants).
- Ask your referee to submit their assessment directly (Carleton referee deadline 2 December 2026).
- Submit by your university’s deadline — the earliest confirmed is 16 November 2026, 11:59 PM EST (Carleton).
- Results are notified in April each year.
FAQs
There is no single deadline — each university sets its own. Confirmed for 2027–28: Carleton University 16 November 2026, 11:59 PM EST; Ontario Tech University 1 December 2026; Laurentian University 31 January 2027; University of Toronto Scarborough (Psychology, domestic) 23 April 2027. Check your university’s graduate awards page.
No. It pays CAD $5,000 a term, up to $15,000 for three consecutive terms, jointly funded by the Ontario government and the host university. It does not automatically cover full tuition, accommodation, travel, health insurance or living costs.
Only if they are already studying in Ontario on a valid study permit, under the allotted international awards. Students living abroad cannot apply directly.
CAD $5,000 per term, $10,000 for two consecutive terms, or $15,000 for three consecutive terms, for a maximum of one year at a time.
A minimum of 10.0 (A−) in each of the last two years of full-time study on the Carleton scale. Students in the 3rd year or later of graduate study need 10.0 overall on graduate courses.
Through your chosen university — there is no central provincial application. At Carleton, apply online through Carleton Central or submit a PDF package to the department’s Graduate Administrator.
Verified 26 Oct 2026: gradstudents.carleton.ca/ogs/ (official Carleton OGS page, opened and read in full) — 2027–28 cycle, applications opened 26 August 2026, deadline 16 November 2026, 11:59 PM EST, referee deadline 2 December 2026, CAD $5,000 per term ($10,000 / $15,000), one reference, transcripts, citizenship document or study permit, results notified in April; ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r00400 (Ontario Regulation 400/00, opened and read) — award amounts and legal basis; 9Scholarships, Laurentian University, utsc.utoronto.ca — Ontario Tech 1 December 2026, Laurentian 31 January 2027, U of T Scarborough Psychology (domestic) 23 April 2027. CORRECTION: Bright Scholarship is unreliable on the details and was not copied — it claims two letters of recommendation and a health certificate (official: one reference, no health certificate) and says "All Nationalities" (misleading — international applicants must already be studying in Ontario on a study permit). Per-university deadlines beyond the four cited were not individually verified. A dedicated ontario.ca OGS information page was not located; the official sources are Carleton’s OGS page and Ontario Regulation 400/00. No ministry-level change to the 2027–28 cycle was confirmed, so none is stated.
