Review process overview

All eligible nominations to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program will undergo an evaluation by a selection committee from one of the three federal granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships are awarded after a competitive review process.

Nominations will be reviewed against the three (3) equally weighted selection criteria and ranked based on the average of these criteria.

The ranked list of all nominations will be submitted to the tri-agency programs (TAP) Steering Committee for their approval.

The TAP Steering Committee, made up of the presidents of the three federal granting agencies, and the deputy ministers of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Health Canada, will approve the final slate of up to 166 Vanier Scholars annually.

Selection criteria

  1. Academic Excellence
  2. Research Potential
  3. Leadership (potential and demonstrated ability)

In preparing their application package, students should consult the selection criteria as outlined in the selection committee guide.

Process

Institution review

Students must be nominated by an eligible Canadian institution. The scholarship liaison officer at each eligible Canadian institution is responsible for coordinating their internal institution review to determine the selected candidates and forwarding those nominations to the Vanier CGS program in accordance with their institution's quota.

Administration Vanier-Banting Secretariat

The Vanier-Banting Secretariat, which is housed at CIHR, is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Vanier CGS program.

Review Selection committees

Once submitted to the Vanier CGS program, each nomination is evaluated by an agency-specific selection committee (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). Each selection committee recommends 55 candidates annually, with an additional award being offered by NSERC or CIHR for a combined total among the three federal granting agencies of up to 166 candidates. The recommendations are presented to the TAP Steering Committee based on the candidates' Academic Excellence, Research Potential and Leadership (potential and demonstrated ability).

The lists of members who served on the 2022-2023 Vanier CGS agency-specific selection committees are available through the following links:

ApprovalTri-agency programs (TAP) Steering Committee

The TAP Steering Committee, which is comprised of the presidents of the three federal granting agencies and the deputy ministers of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and of Health Canada make the final decisions pertaining to the recommendations for the Vanier Canada Graduates Scholarships.

Each year, the TAP Steering Committee approves up to 166 Vanier Scholars for funding based on the recommendations of the agency-specific selection committees.

Timelines

November Nomination deadline – nominations are received.
November/
December		 Nominations are reviewed for eligibility and assigned to reviewers.
December Evaluation of nominations by reviewers.
January Selection committees meet to discuss nominations and finalize their recommendations.
March The tri-agency programs Steering Committee meets to approves the ranked list of nominations recommended by the selection committees.
April The Vanier CGS candidates are notified of their result in the competition.
May to January Tenure of the Vanier CGS may begin.

Notification of decision

Following approval by the TAP Steering Committee, the Vanier-Banting Secretariat notifies candidates of the results of their nomination by posting a decision letter to their ResearchNet account.

The names of the Vanier Scholars and other basic award information will be published on the Vanier CGS program website.

For more information on the posting of and access to information, refer to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

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