Needs Based Bursaries vs Merit Scholarships: What Actually Separates the Two Applications
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Jan 18, 2025 • Scholarships & Funding, Canadian Universities & Colleges
A merit scholarship application asks about your grades and activities. A needs based bursary application asks about your family's finances instead: tax documents, bank statements, and a full picture of what your household pays toward your education.
💵 Bursaries need a CRA Notice of Assessment and often a parent's income details too
Scholarships need transcripts, sometimes an essay, reference, or activity list
Bursary applications usually need your provincial student loan application assessed first
Bursary decisions depend on demonstrated need, not a fixed GPA cutoff
You apply for both in the same year in most cases, since they draw from separate budgets
Two different questions, two different applications
A merit scholarship application answers one question: how strong is your academic or extracurricular record? A needs based bursary answers a different one entirely: how large is the financial gap between what your education costs and what you and your family pay? These two questions need different proof, which is why the paperwork looks nothing alike.
What a bursary application collects
Bursary applications collect a full financial picture. At UBC, that means a Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment for the most recent tax year (including line 150), bank statements for the student and parents or dependents, proof of address, and rental documentation with proof of payment . Schools ask for this because a bursary exists to close a documented gap, not to reward a specific number.
Most Canadian universities also require you to apply for provincial student aid first. Waterloo requires a complete, assessed application for full time OSAP or another province's student aid program before it assesses any bursary application, and expects you to accept both the loan and grant portion of that aid . Skipping your provincial aid application first is the single most common reason a bursary application stalls.
What a scholarship application collects
A merit scholarship application centres on your transcript. Entrance scholarships get decided from your high school or CEGEP average with no separate form in most cases. In course and faculty scholarships add a transcript review, and named or donor awards layer on a short written application, an activity list, or a reference letter. None of these ask for your family's bank statements or tax return.
Side by side
| Merit scholarship | Needs based bursary | |
|---|---|---|
| Core question | How strong is your record? | How large is your financial gap? |
| Key documents | Transcript, sometimes essay or reference | CRA Notice of Assessment, bank statements, proof of address |
| Prerequisite step | None beyond admission or enrollment | Completed provincial student aid application in most cases |
| Decision basis | Fixed GPA or ranking cutoff | Demonstrated need, assessed case by case |
| Timeline | Often tied to admission or year-end grades | Weeks after application, separate review cycle |
Why you apply for both
Scholarships and bursaries usually draw from separate university budgets, so winning one rarely disqualifies you from the other. A student holding a renewable entrance scholarship still applies for a bursary if a documented financial gap remains, and a student receiving a bursary still gets nominated for an in course faculty award the following year based purely on grades. Read each award's own terms and conditions, since a small number of large named scholarships reduce other aid dollar for dollar.
Processing timelines differ too
Merit scholarship decisions often arrive alongside your admission letter or shortly after final grades post, since the university already has your transcript on file. Bursary decisions take longer because they need external documents. Waterloo estimates roughly three weeks from a complete bursary submission to a decision, while other schools take longer during high volume periods around the start of fall term. Apply for provincial aid and gather your tax documents early in the summer rather than waiting until your bursary deadline approaches.
If you don't qualify for a needs based bursary
A bursary requires demonstrated need, so a student whose family covers costs comfortably will not qualify no matter how strong their file looks. Merit scholarships stay open regardless of family income, so a strong transcript remains worth pursuing even when a bursary application would not succeed. Check your faculty's in course awards list too, since some combine a modest merit bar with a preference for financial need without asking for the same depth of documentation as a full bursary file.
Common mistakes on each type
Applying for a bursary before your provincial student aid file is complete and assessed
Submitting a scholarship application without checking whether the award is actually automatic, wasting time on a form nobody asked for
Missing a bursary's document verification request, which pauses or cancels your application
Assuming a merit scholarship counts as proof of need for a separate bursary application
Check your own school's financial aid office page for the exact document list and deadline before you start either application. The categories above hold across most Canadian universities, but the specific forms and portals differ by school.