Funding and Scholarships

Student fee amounts are posted by late August on the Student Fees webpage; select "Psychology" under "Full Time Programs," "Master of Arts" for the MA Psychology program fees, and under "Full Time Programs," "Doctor of Philosophy" for the PhD Psychology program fees. Please note that student fee amounts often increase from year to year, so be sure to check the updated amounts at the beginning of each academic year (in September). 

Student fees must be paid by the end of September (for Fall term fees), the end of January (for Winter term fees), and the end of May (for Summer term fees). For information on how to pay fees online and other details (e.g., the importance of making payments 3-4 business days before the deadline, to allow time for the for the payment to clear) are detailed here.

You will find out out the exact breakdown of your funding by July or August, for the upcoming/current academic year, via an email to you from the Graduate Program Director, copied to your Supervisor and to the Graduate Program Administrator. If you are not certain of your funding breakdown for the current academic year, please refer to the funding breakdown email that you would have received by July or August.

OGS awards are currently worth $15,000 per year. This includes $10,000 paid by the Ontario government and $5000 paid by the University where the graduate student is enrolled.

How OGS Funds Are Paid to Graduate Students

TMU deposits one third of the annual OGS amount into your MyServiceHub account by the end of September, the end of January, and the end of May. Any student fees that are owing on your MyServiceHub account will automatically be paid in full/covered by this one-third OGS amount. Any remaining OGS funds, after the student fees have been covered, are sent to you in the form of a hard copy cheque mailed to your mailing address listed on MyServiceHub. Please ensure that your mailing address is correct at the beginning of September, January, and May, as lost cheques are hard to replace.

You can only apply for graduate funding from only one of the three tricouncil agencies (SSHRC, CIHR, NSERC) in a given year. The choice should depend on your proposed area of research. If you are unsure of which agency you should apply to, please see the descriptions below for more information. You can also email your research proposal to the agency to which you are considering applying to receive feedback on whether your proposal fits their mandate (see the agency websites for contact information). For applicants to the program, potential supervisors at TMU may be able to let you know which agencies are most likely to fund work in their labs.

• SSHRC: SSHRC generally funds psychology research related to social processes, personality, history of psychology, and other areas best conceptualized as related to the social sciences and humanities. In addition to funding students and faculty member in TMU’s Psychological Science field, SSHRC also funds research in Clinical Psychology, as long as it is related to basic social and personality processes (e.g., personality traits and depressed mood).
• CIHR: CIHR funds research related to health care. In psychology, that may include topics such as etiology and treatment of psychological disorders, psychological aspects of physical disease, and approaches to health care delivery.
• NSERC: NSERC funds research in the natural sciences. In psychology, this mostly includes research on cognition, perception, human factors, and neuroscience. Applicants to TMU’s Psychological Science field occasionally seek funding from NSERC. In are cases, NSERC may also be relevant for applicants to the Clinical Psychology field, though NSERC does not support clinically-oriented research.

RGF funding provided by the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and distributed by Psychology. These awards range in value from $1000 or more, and they may be combined with external sources of funding (e.g., SSHRC, OGS, etc.) as well as internal funding sources (e.g., teaching assistantships, stipends). Students do not need to apply for RGF funding; Funding details (including RGF funds) are communicated to Psychology graduate students by email in July or August for the upcoming academic year.

How RGF Funds Are Paid to Graduate Students

TMU deposits one third of your total annual RGF amount into your MyServiceHub account by the end of September, the end of January, and the end of May. These funds will automatically be applied to any student fees that are owing on your MyServiceHub account. Any remaining RGF funds are sent to you in the form of a hard copy cheque mailed to the mailing address listed in your MyServiceHub account. Please ensure that your mailing address is correct at the beginning of September, January, and May, as lost cheques are hard to replace.

Refers to funding to support a graduate student while completing a degree. Normally the stipend is paid from research funding held by faculty supervisors. Stipends are not payment for employment. When the stipend is a student’s only source of funding, the minimum awarded must be $1,000 per month/= or $12,000 per year. The awarding of stipends is to be consistent with employment and graduate funding policies of granting agencies whose funds may be used to support graduate students. Information on graduate stipends may be obtained through potential supervisors in the Psychology Department, and stipend details, if applicable, are communicated to students via email by July or August for the upcoming academic year.

How Graduate Stipends Are Paid to Graduate Students

Psychology graduate students will find out if they have a Graduate Student Stipend during the academic year (that is part of their official funding package) by around mid-August, via email from the Psychology Graduate Program Director. To receive the Stipend funding, you must complete a Graduate Student Stipend Form, available at www.torontomu.ca/graduate/student-guide/academic-matters/form-downloads/, ask your supervisor to sign and to enter the appropriate cost centre, and deliver to the Graduate Program Administrator (Room JOR901).

Stipend/TAship/RAship funding is deposited directly to your personal bank account (e.g., CIBC). If you have worked at TMU before and your banking information has not changed, no further action is required; if you have never worked at TMU before, you must enter your banking information on the "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca. If you do not have an "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca, please submit a request at AskHR. 

Pay dates for Stipends/TAships/RAships can be found at AskHR, on the "Biweekly Deferred" pay schedule. Pay dates for stipends are every 2 weeks during the term of the stipend; payments are in equal amounts, determined by how many pay dates will take place between the start date and the end date of the contract. Note that the first pay date on the Biweekly Deferred pay schedule is usually 3-4 weeks after the start date of the TAship/RAship/Stipend--please consult the Biweekly Deferred pay schedules, for more information visit AskHR, for details on exact pay dates.

Refers to the employment of a TMU graduate student to assist with teaching or teaching-related duties. The term TA and GA are used interchangeably. Full-time graduate students can be employed for a maximum of 10 hours per week (130 hours per term). The TA rate of pay can be found on the Human Resources website, within the CUPE Local 3904 Unit 3 Collective Agreement. Students may be offered GA positions by their department or for programs based in other departments (positions will be posted on the Human Resources website). Availability of TA funding opportunities, if applicable, are communicated to students in the psychology graduate program via email by July or August for the upcoming academic year.

How TA/GAship Funding is Paid to Graduate Students

Psychology graduate students will find out if they have a TA/GAship for the next year by around mid-August (or just before the start of that academic year), via email from the Psychology Graduate Program Director. At the beginning of the term that a Psychology graduate student has the TAship, he or she will need to complete paperwork to get paid. Francesca Grillo (Psychology Department Administrator) will contact Psychology graduate students by email in late August or early September (for Fall TAships) or in late December or early January (for Winter TAships) to let them know when they can pick up the paperwork. To pick up the TAship paperwork, Psychology graduate students should see Francesca Grillo in Psychology, Room JOR942 (or Francesca can be contacted at fgrillo@torontomu.ca).

TAship/RAship/Stipend funding is deposited directly to your personal bank account (e.g., CIBC). If you have worked at TMU before and your banking information has not changed, no further action is required; if you have never worked at TMU before, you must enter your banking information on the "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca. If you do not have an "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca, please submit an inquiry at AskHR.

Pay dates for TAships/RAships/Stipends information can be found at AskHR, on the "Biweekly Deferred" pay schedule. Note that the first pay date on the Biweekly Deferred pay schedule is usually 3-4 weeks after the start date of the TAship/RAship/Stipend--please consult the Biweekly Deferred pay schedules, for more information visit AskHR, for details on exact pay dates.

Refers to employment available to students assisting Principal Investigators in conducting research activities not related to their studies. Full-time graduate students can be employed for a maximum of 10 hours per week. The minimum rate of pay for a research assistant is posted at the bottom of the salary scale in the OPSEU Collective Agreement on the Human Resources website, though the minimum recommended pay for graduate students (if the RAship is part of the official funding package for the graduate student) equals the rate at which Graduate/Teaching Assistants are paid. If the RAship is not part of the official funding package for the graduate student, the rate of pay is generally closer to the rate at which Graduate/Teaching Assistants are paid than to the minimum allowable rate. Terms of employment of graduate students will be consistent with the collective agreements between Ryerson and its employee groups. These positions are posted from time to time on Ryerson’s Human Resources website. Individual faculty members often share information about these opportunities with graduate students.

How Research Assistantship Funding is Paid to Graduate Students

Psychology graduate students will find out if they have an RAship as part of their official funding package via email from the Psychology Program Director by mid-August, before the start of the academic year.  Paperwork will need to be completed before the start of the RAship in order to get paid. Psychology graduate students should see Francesca Grillo (Psychology Department Administrator), Room JOR942 to complete the required forms (or Francesca can be contacted at fgrillo@torontomu.ca).

RAship/TAship/Stipend funding is deposited directly to your personal bank account (e.g., CIBC). If you have worked at Ryerson before and your banking information has not changed, no further action is required; if you have never worked at Ryerson before, you must enter your banking information on the "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca. If you do not have an "eHR" tab at https://my.torontomu.ca, please submit an inquiry at AskHR.

Pay dates for RAships/TAships/Stipends information can be found at AskHR, on the "Biweekly Deferred" pay schedule. Note that the first pay date on the Biweekly Deferred pay schedule is usually 3-4 weeks after the start date of the TAship/RAship/Stipend--please consult the Biweekly Deferred pay schedules, for more information at AskHR, for details on exact pay dates.

TMU's Student Financial Assistance office has set up a listing of all the scholarships and awards available to graduate students. View Listings >

Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) (external link) 

Funding opportunities include the Clinician Scholarship Program (which allows recipients to gain new knowledge and skills in the field of eating disorders and share this knowledge and experience with their respective communities) and the Student Early Career Investigator Travel Fellowship Program (for students and early career investigators to attend the ICED).

American Psychological Association Awards
 (external link) 
Includes a variety of awards, including the APA Student Travel Award, Graduate Research Scholarships, Dissertation Research Award, and Early Graduate Student Researcher Award.

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT)
 (external link) 
ABCT provides several dissertation awards (e.g., Virginia A. Roswell Student Dissertation Award, Leonard Krasner Student Dissertation Award, John R.Z. Abela Student Dissertation Award.  In addition, several ABCT Special Interest Groups (SIGs) offer research grants or awards for students conducting relevant research. Information on the different SIGs, and contact information for each SIG can be found by clicking on this link: Current ABCT Special Interest Groups (SIGs) (external link) 

Canadian Acoustical Association (external link) 

These awards are particularly relevant for psychology students: 

• Bell Student Prize, Prize: $800
• Directors’ Award, Prize: $500 
• Student Presentation Awards, Prize: $500

Canadian Association on Gerontology (external link) 

The Canadian Association on Gerontology scholarships and bursaries provide opportunities to recognize those individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of gerontology and to the CAG itself, as well as to support and encourage students who will play a significant role in the future of this field.

Canadian Federation of University Women (external link) 

The CFUW Charitable Trust provides funds for a range of post graduate awards and fellowships to women. The Trust is supported by donations from CFUW clubs, individual club members and nonmembers.

Canadian Psychological Association Student Awards (external link) 

Numerous CPA sections offer student awards. Click the above heading for a complete list.

CHEO Graduate Award
 (external link) 
Awarded by the Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO. Graduate Awards aim to build capacity in the area of child and youth (0-18 years of age) mental health with a focus on evidence-based knowledge and practices. This award is not restricted to any one discipline of mental health training or sector of mental health practice.

COU Women’s Health Scholars Awards
 (external link) 
Awarded by the Council of Ontario Universities. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, a Scholar Awards Program in Women's Health has been established to ensure that Ontario attracts and retains pre-eminent women's health scholars.  The community of women's health scholars fostered by this Awards program will excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge about women's health and its translation into improved health for women, more effective health services and products for women, and a strengthened heath care system.

For 2017-18, up to two awards will be made at each of the Master’s and Doctoral levels, and one award at the Postdoctoral level:

• Master's Awards - $25,000 plus $1,000 research allowance
• Doctoral Awards - $35,000 plus $2,000 research allowance
• Postdoctoral Awards - $50,000 plus $5,000 research allowance

ERASMUS MUNDUS ACN Student Exchange Grant (external link) 

The ERASMUS MUNDUS ACN student exchange network is recruiting graduate students and postdocs who work in the field of Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience to participate in transatlantic exchanges between the member universities and institutions.

Malyon-Smith Scholarship Award (external link) 

Awarded by Division 44 of the American Psychological Association, which annually awards up to $1000 to selected graduate students in psychology to advance research in the psychology of sexual orientation and gender identity. The award represents one of the Division's major efforts to mentor and support science in LGB psychology by encouraging the work of young researchers.

MS Society of Canada (external link) 

Through its various funding opportunities, the MS Society is committed to supporting research that will lead to major advances in our understanding pertaining to the causes of, and potential treatments for, multiple sclerosis (MS).  The "endMS Research and Training Network Awards and Programs" are aimed at graduate students and posdoctoral fellows.

MHRC Research Studentship Award
 (external link) 
Awarded by Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC). The MHRC offers a limited number of awards for training in research in the mental health field.  The Research Studentship is available only to those who are enrolled in a PhD program at Ontario Universities during the award period.

Predoctoral Research Grant from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (external link) 

The Grant Program has been established to fulfill the organization’s commitment to promoting research on the causes and treatment of sexual offending. The Predoctoral Research Grant also fulfills ATSA’s commitment to encouraging and the training of new investigators.

Psychology Foundation of Canada Awards (external link) 

Several awards are available, including (1) the Bea Wickett Award for Contributions to Education and Mental Health, (2) the Jean Petiffor and Dick Petiffor Scholarship fund (for graduate student research projects in the area of professional ethics), and (3) the Mary J. Wright Best Student Award (cosponsored by the CPA History and Philosophy of Psychology Section).

Seymour Fisher Outstanding Body Image Dissertation Annual Award
 (external link) 
For an outstanding doctoral dissertation in the area of body image.

TUTOR-PHC Program, Western University (external link) 

TUTOR-PHC is a 1-year, pan-Canadian, interdisciplinary research capacity building program that has been training primary and integrated health care researchers and decision makers from family medicine, nursing, psychology, epidemiology, social work, education, policy and many other disciplines since 2003.

Universities Without Walls Fellowship (external link) 

The Universities Without Walls (UWW2020) Fellowship program builds on intensive training program funded by a CIHR Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research (STIHR).

Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) (external link, opens in new window) 
A non-governmental association representing Canadian universities, at home and abroad. For undergraduate and graduates.

CanLearn
 (external link, opens in new window) Provides funding information for Canadian citizens in post-secondary education and beyond.

FastWeb
 (external link) Scholarship information for colleges and universities in the U.S.

National Educational Association of Disabled Students  (external link) 
NEADS includes a directory where students with disabilities can access information on scholarships, bursaries, awards, and government programs.

Scholarships Canada
 (external link) Extensive Canadian scholarship portal, covering scholarships, student awards, bursaries and grants and information about student loans, applications and budget planning.

The SmartStudent Guide
 (external link) Information helpful for students planning to study in the  U.S.

The Student Awards Site
 (external link) Highly recommended by graduate students. A Canadian website for both undergraduate and graduate students. It generates (for no cost) a list of awards for which a student is eligible, based on their profile (gender, ethnicity, parent’s details, etc.).