British Columbia Graduate Scholarship Programs Beyond the Tri-Agency

BCGS sits outside StudentAid BC

StudentAid BC handles provincial and federal student loans and grants for eligible students at every level, but it is not where BC's flagship graduate merit scholarship gets awarded. The BC Graduate Scholarship (BCGS) runs as a separate, institution-administered merit program funded by the province and paid out through your own university's graduate programs and faculties.

BCGS launched in 2018 and has supported more than 1,500 awards since, according to a 2023 BC government funding announcement . That announcement added $15 million over three years and raised the per-award value by $2,500, bringing BCGS to its current $17,500.

Which institutions offer it

Ten BC post-secondary institutions administer BCGS: the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria, the University of Northern British Columbia, Thompson Rivers University, Royal Roads University, Vancouver Island University, the University of the Fraser Valley, the British Columbia Institute of Technology and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Each institution runs its own internal competition and award cycle rather than one centralized provincial application.

At UBC, the award goes to full-time master's and doctoral students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, distributed by individual graduate programs and disciplinary faculties, according to UBC's graduate awards office . Confirm the exact eligibility and application steps with your own institution's graduate studies or awards office, since the internal process differs by school even though the province sets the award value and overall funding envelope.

Field focus

BCGS puts emphasis on research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and on support for Indigenous graduate students, but the province funds it across any field of study. Do not assume you are ineligible because your program sits outside STEM. Check your specific faculty's award page, since some faculties weigh STEM and Indigenous priorities more heavily than others when ranking applicants inside a fixed allocation.

How BCGS differs from tri-agency funding

• Tri-agency awards (CGRS-M, CGRS-D, Vanier CGS) come from the federal government through SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR

• BCGS comes from the provincial government of British Columbia, administered locally by your university

• Tri-agency competitions use a shared national Research Portal, while BCGS applications go through your own graduate program or faculty

• Holding a tri-agency award does not automatically disqualify you from BCGS, but each institution sets its own stacking rules, so confirm with your graduate awards office before assuming both can run at once

Building a BC funding plan beyond BCGS

Beyond BCGS, most BC universities run their own entrance scholarships, faculty-specific graduate awards and donor-funded fellowships that sit entirely outside both StudentAid BC and the tri-agency system. These vary widely in value and eligibility from one faculty to the next, so a generic list would not reflect what your specific department offers.

Start with your graduate program's own awards page, then move to your faculty's central graduate studies office, and finally check the university-wide graduate awards listing. Ask your graduate program coordinator directly which internal awards students in your specific program typically receive, since coordinators usually know which competitions have less applicant pressure than the headline BCGS or tri-agency programs.

Timing your applications

BCGS and most institution-specific graduate awards run on an annual cycle tied to your admission or continuing enrollment status, often in the fall or winter term before the funding year begins. Deadlines are set by each institution, not the province, so track your specific school's graduate awards calendar rather than assuming a fixed provincial date applies everywhere.