Ontario Graduate Scholarship: Eligibility and How Universities Allocate Their Quota

What the Ontario Graduate Scholarship pays

The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) pays $5,000 per academic term, up to a maximum of $15,000 for three consecutive terms in one year, according to the 2025-26 OGS Terms and Conditions . It runs at every publicly assisted university in Ontario and covers master's and doctoral students in any field of study, unlike the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology, which restricts itself to science and technology disciplines.

OGS has run since 1975 as a merit award recognizing strong academic records, so a competitive application usually needs a high grade point average from your most recent two years of full-time study, a clear research plan if you are heading into a thesis-based program, and strong references. Full-time enrollment in an eligible graduate program is required for the term you hold the award.

Who can apply

Eligibility centers on citizenship and residency status. Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons form the core eligible pool at every Ontario university offering OGS. Some universities also run a parallel allocation for international students, so check your own institution's graduate studies office for its specific rules on that stream, since the details vary by school.

How the province allocates OGS awards

Ontario's Ministry of Colleges and Universities does not run a single province-wide competition that ranks every applicant against every other applicant in the province. Instead, it hands each university a fixed number of OGS awards to distribute for the year. Your university then divides that number among its own graduate units, often by program size, past allocation history, and research output.

The scale of these allocations differs by university size. The University of Toronto, one of Ontario's largest graduate schools, receives one of the province's largest OGS allocations. Confirm the current year's exact count with the School of Graduate Studies. The University of Guelph, a smaller institution, receives 129 awards for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons, with two reserved for Indigenous applicants who self-identify, according to its Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies office .

How your department picks its nominees

• You submit one OGS application to your home department or graduate unit, not to the province directly

• The department ranks all its applicants using an internal committee, usually weighing grades, references and research quality

• Top-ranked applicants get nominated up to the department's share of the university's total quota

• The graduate studies office confirms the final list and notifies recipients

Because your department controls its own slice of the quota, being a strong applicant is not enough on its own. A department with a large quota and few strong applicants offers better odds than a department with a small quota and many strong candidates. Ask your graduate coordinator how many OGS awards your program typically receives before you build your application strategy.

Applying alongside QEII-GSST

Many Ontario universities run a single combined application form covering both OGS and the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST), since QEII-GSST eligibility only adds a science and technology field restriction on top of OGS's base rules. Your department decides which program to award you into based on your field. If your program is not eligible for QEII-GSST, your application only competes for OGS.

Timing your application

OGS applications go through your home department, usually in the fall or early winter of the preceding academic year, well ahead of the term the award covers. Deadlines are set locally by each university, so confirm the exact date with your graduate studies office rather than assuming a province-wide deadline applies.