Financial Support

The demands of graduate school are heavy enough without the added stress of tuition, rent and other living expenses. Explore the financial support available to students below.

In order to help you calculate an accurate estimate of how much funding you will need to pay for tuition, fees, housing,food and many other necessities for a 12-month academic year, please use the Graduate Student Affordabilty Calculator.

The Department of Biology guarantees a minimum annual stipend (see tables below) per year to all full-time MSc and PhD graduate students for their normal program duration (two years for Master’s students, four years for Doctoral students, five years for students who transfer to the Doctoral program from the Master’s program). The funding below applies to students paid through Western Accounts. Students funded by their supervisor through affiliate institutions from non-Western accounts may have some of their funding (excluding GTA and the Western Graduate Research Scholarship) administered on a different pay schedule as subject to different pay mechanisms at the affiliate institutions.

This money is deposited directly into the student’s personal bank account, provided automatic deposits are set up. For information on compensation, employment deductions, as well as federal and provincial income tax, please see Western Funding.

Financial Support for Major Scholarship Holders

Graduate students who hold a major scholarship, such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) or Canadian Graduate Scholarship are often eligible for additional funding, delivered in the form of an increased Western Graduate Research Scholarship (WGRS) payment. This is referred to as a WGRS top-up and is in the amount of $1,000 per term for the eligible duration of the scholarship (limited by the student’s program fundable period). 

This WGRS top-up is applied directly to the tuition for the appropriate terms. Major scholarship holders do not typically receive any summer stipend from their supervisor, as the scholarship covers the department’s minimum stipend obligation, and they are eligible (but not guaranteed) to hold a half GTA position each year if available.

A Note on Teaching Assistantships

Teaching experience is an essential component of graduate education. Thus, all students admitted to our graduate program must complete at least one half GTA-ship (i.e. 70 hours total) as part of their degree requirements. Students not holding a major scholarship are guaranteed a full GTA (10 hours per week for two terms, or 280 hours total) each year to contribute to their minimum stipend during their normal program duration. These students are expected to hold their GTA from September 1 through April 30. If a student cannot be on campus during the fall and winter terms to meet their GTA obligation, they must seek approval from their supervisor, who must cover the missed GTA portion of their minimum stipend. Major scholarship holders are eligible to hold a half GTA (5 hours per week for two terms, or 140 hours total) if available and contingent upon their supervisor's approval. These students may elect not to hold a GTA in any given term, but must complete at least one half GTA-ship (70 hours total) during their program in order to graduate.