OGS award holder’s guide

The value of the OGS is $5,000 per term. Thus, recipients may receive $10,000 for two consecutive terms or $15,000 for three consecutive terms. The OGS is jointly funded by the Government of Ontario (2/3) and the University of Ottawa (1/3).

The scholarship is not available if you have fewer than two terms of registration remaining at the time of application, or if you are pursuing your studies at an institution other than the University of Ottawa.

If you have already begun your master’s program:

• you can accept the award for 2 terms if at the time of starting the award you have completed 4 terms (16 months) of your master’s program. Your total funding will be $10,000 ($5,000 per term);

or

• you can accept the award for 3 terms if you have completed between 0-3 terms (0-12 months) of your master’s program. Your total funding will be $15,000 ($5,000 per term).

If you have already begun your doctoral program:

• you can accept the award for 2 terms if at the time of starting the award you have completed 13 terms (52 months) of your doctoral program. Your total funding will be $10,000 ($5,000 per term );

or

• you can accept the award for 3 terms if you have completed between 0-12 terms (0-48 months) of your doctoral program. Your total funding will be $15,000 ($5,000 per term).

Your award payment will be activated once you have completed, signed and returned the OGS Acceptance Form to the Financial Aid and Awards Service and uphold all conditions to maintain an OGS which are listed below.

The University of Ottawa will credit your student account with $5,000 installment of your OGS scholarship at the beginning of each term (session) for which the award was granted. Any outstanding amounts owed to the University of Ottawa, including but not limited to, medical or dental insurance fees, incidental fees, UHIP, UPass, etc. will be deducted from the scholarship.

Please consult your uoZone account to ensure that your scholarship credits appear on your student account.

Registration requirements

• Full-time registration in an eligible program must be maintained during the tenure of the award at the University of Ottawa.  The definition of full-time status can be found in Section C-1.2.1 of the Academic Regulation for Graduate Enrolment.  Please pay particular attention to the item Regulations Governing the Classification of Students. Please remember, students are expected to devote the majority of their time to their studies and make satisfactory progress toward timely completion of all program requirements, as described in section C-1.2.2 Full-time status and paid employment of the Academic Regulation.
• Recipients whose registration status changes (i.e., who withdraw, transfer to part-time studies, fail to complete a term (session), register as a special student, interrupt their studies) after they have received the OGS funding for any given term or terms, will be required to repay any amounts received prior to the change.
• You cannot be enrolled in a qualifying or make-up year, or be on a paid educational leave or sabbatical.
• An OGS may be deferred if you obtain an approved leave of absence for medical leave or family obligations related to health care, maternity or parental leave or compassionate leave (bereavement) with supporting and current documentation (e.g. medical certificate). See section 3.2 Leaves of absence of the Academic Regulation.
• Terms where students are registered for a coop placement or practicum will count as part of the period of eligibility for the scholarship as well as any term without registration or where a leave of absence was taken for reasons other than the ones mentioned above.

Duration for the OGS

• Master’s students can receive an OGS award for a maximum of 2 academic years and will not be funded beyond the second year (6^th term) of their master’s program.
• Doctoral students can receive an OGS award for a maximum of 4 academic years and will not be funded beyond the fifth year (15^th term) of their doctoral program.
• OGS recipients must be eligible to accept the award for at least 2 consecutive terms.

Funding limitations

• OGS recipients cannot hold at the same time nor exceed the lifetime maximum of 6 years of government-funded student awards from the following granting agencies:
  • Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)
  • Ontario Trillium Scholarship (OTS)
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  • Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS)

Other conditions

• OGS recipients cannot be restricted from receiving student financial assistance through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). The universities are obligated by the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) to verify restrictions at the beginning of each term. Should the MCURES inform the University of Ottawa of a restriction on a student’s OSAP account, the OGS funding will be immediately cancelled. The MCURES may place a restriction on current and/or past terms and you will be required to repay the University of Ottawa for the funding received. You will also be held responsible to pay any additional fees that could be charged to your student account (i.e. late payment fees, interest charges, etc.) due to a cancellation of an OGS award.
• Scholarships may be a taxable income. However there is no tax deducted at the source.
• The University of Ottawa must issue a T4A (available in uoZone) for all scholarships paid through one of our systems. Furthermore, the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security (MCURES) of Ontario require all universities to enter all OGS awards in their Bursaries Recording System (BRS). The BRS will not allow universities to disburse OGS funding to anyone who has not provided their Social Insurance Number (SIN). Please ensure that your SIN is in the University of Ottawa’s Student Information System. You can do this via your uoZone account by selecting “Applications” and then “Confirmation of personal information”. Please add your SIN if it was not previously provided.
• At the discretions of the faculties, OGS recipients may also accept research or teaching assistantships, part-time teaching positions, or other paid employment that does not affect their status as a full-time graduate student.
• OGS scholarships are not transferrable to another university nor are they transferrable to a faculty other than the one in which you applied for the funding.

Failure to meet any one of these conditions will result in the scholarship being revoked and you will be required to reimburse the total amount of the funding you have received to the University of Ottawa.

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Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
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