The Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) provides Masters and Doctoral scholarships and fellowships to Canadian students who are currently in a graduate program, or are entering a program in the next year. Applications are not limited to Canadian students at institutions within Canada, but also Canadian students at international institutions, though application eligibility may differ.
It should be noted that the SSHRC application process is very time consuming, and the competition is very competitive. It is highly recommended that students begin working on their applications well in advance of the submission deadlines (some students begin their applications several months early), and work with their supervisors to revise and streamline their research proposals and other application materials.
MA Competition
The Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Masters (CGS-M) competition is valued at $17,500 for one year, and can only be held once. Some students apply for this scholarship before entering a program, though most students apply during the first year of a two-year MA program. Applicants are required to fill out both an application and a Canadian Commons CV.
The application deadline for the CGS-M competition is December 1st. Results are usually released early April.
Detailed application instructions can be found here.
The application portal can be found here.
The Canadian Commons CV portal can be found here.
Ph.D. Competitions
SSHRC offers several funding opportunities for doctoral applicants. All applications to the doctoral SSHRC competition will be considered in both the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship competition (valued at $20,000/year for four years) and the Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) competition (valued at $35,000/year for three years). The application process also frequently offers opportunities to apply for supplementary scholarships and fellowships.
For current McGill students, the institutional application deadline is usually at the beginning of October. For prospective students, the application deadline is usually mid-October. Results are usually released mid to late April.
The application portal is available here.
Detailed application instructions, including documentation requirements, document types, formatting requirements, etc, are available here.