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EVSC Graduate Program Funding Policy

Effective Date: September 1, 2025

The primary goal in the development of a minimum funding guarantee is equity, which the graduate program Environmental Science defines as fair distribution of financial support that we hope will offer our graduate students the ability to focus on their research with as few additional responsibilities as is practical and possible.

1.     Students enrolled in the PhD program in Environmental Science are expected to complete the program in 12 terms. Students in the program will be funded for a minimum of 12 terms. Students enrolled in the thesis-based Master’s program in Environmental Science are expected to complete the program in six terms. Students in the program will be funded for a minimum of six terms.

2.     In the case that there is a conflict between this policy and the University-level policy, the University-level policy will prevail.

3.     Students in the PhD program will receive guaranteed minimum funding in the amount of $30,000 for the duration of the funding guarantee provided in 1. Students in the thesis-based Master’s program will receive guaranteed minimum funding in the amount of $27,000 for the duration of the funding guarantee provided in 1[1][2].

4.     Continued funding is contingent on maintaining a CGPA of 3.0 or higher, satisfactory progress in the program, applying for major internal and external awards for which they are eligible, satisfactory performance in teaching assistantships (as per TSSU collective agreement Article 13 (c) 3b) and research assistantships, and meeting the supervisor’s reasonable expectations as detailed in the annual progress review (often completed via the Graduate Program Report).

5.     All of the following count toward meeting the student’s minimum guaranteed funding amount:

• Stipend/scholarship payment from supervisor’s research grant
• Up to 8.34 base units of TA funding [3]
• RA funding
• 51ÉçÇøºÚÁÏPhD Research Scholarship [4]
• Tri-Agency awards
• External scholarships including, for example, those adjudicated by Graduate Studies
• Internal scholarships adjudicated by Graduate Studies
• Program-specific awards, including BASS funding and donor awards
• Commercial Funding: Funding provided to student from Mitacs, commercial partners, government agencies, NGOs, or other external sources administered through SFU.
• Tuition: Funding that covers partial or full tuition and fees [5]

6.     Income from the following sources is not counted toward the student’s guaranteed funding amount:

• Travel and Research Awards distributed through Graduate Studies.

7.     Student funding will not be provided in equal increments over the course of the academic year. Students are advised to budget accordingly.

8.     The funding year begins in Fall and ends in Summer for all students enrolled in the program. Students who begin the program in a semester other than the semester in which the funding year begins will have their funding accordingly pro-rated for the remaining portion of the academic year.

9.     The time spent in non-required Co-operative Education or Internship programs will count against the total terms of guaranteed funding.

10.     Important secondary goals of this policy are to reward scholarship success by some students and to ensure fair distribution of funds among other students who are not supported by scholarships. Students who hold major awards such as Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship, or NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship are eligible for all other sources of funding. Students with such scholarships will receive the $4,000 Graduate Fellowship (BASS funding) each September and are encouraged to apply for and accept teaching assistantships in addition to scholarship and GF support. It is important to note that scholarship holders may have income greater than the guaranteed minimum funding requirement, and that any amount above the minimum funding requirements may fluctuate year to year throughout the duration that a scholarship is held. Supervisors are strongly encouraged to support scholarship holders with funding from grants so that scholarship holders have income greater than the funding minimum.

11.     The supervisor of each student is expected to contribute funding from research grants (as scholarships or research assistantships) toward the minimum funding levels (3). In any given year, the supervisor’s contribution may range from no funding to the entire minimum funding level depending on each student’s funding sources (5). Regardless, the supervisor must ensure that all eligible (4.) PhD and MSc students in good standing are financially supported at least to the minimum funding level.

12.     This policy will be reviewed every other year or as needed by the Graduate Program Committee.

Example funding packages stated in an offer letter may include the following examples (important note - see point #15 above regarding tuition and fees):

MSc student: $27,000 total funding:   

• Example 1 - A mixture of funding sources:
  $5,000 Graduate Fellowship (BASS funding);
  $13,196 Research Scholarship funded by Supervisor;
  $8,804 Teaching Assistantship at 6 base units

• Example 2: Tri-Agency funding to student for one year:
  $27,000 NSERC CGS-M award;
  $4,000 Graduate Fellowship (BASS funding) (see 10)

PhD student: $30,000 total guaranteed minimum funding:

• Example 1: A mixture of funding sources:
  $5,000 Graduate Fellowship (BASS funding);
  $5,508 51ÉçÇøºÚÁÏPhD Scholarship;
  $9,308 Research Scholarship funded by Supervisor;
  $10,184 Teaching Assistantship at 6 base units

• Example 2: Tri-Agency funding to student for three years:
  $40,000 NSERC CGS-D award;
  $5,508 51ÉçÇøºÚÁÏPhD Scholarship;
  $4,000 Graduate Fellowship (BASS funding) (see 10)

[1] If a funding agreement was made before May 31, 2025 (summer 2025), those funding agreements would be honored as there was no minimum funding policy at that time. This is the only circumstance for which a funding offer may not meet the minimum funding criteria specified herein.

[2] No offers can be made below the minimum funding amount.

[3] Supervisors cannot require eligible students (4) enrolled in the PhD or MSc programs to accept more than 8.34 base units of Teaching Assistantship funding per year to meet the minimum funding levels. Students who have exceeded the total number of terms specified in point #1 may be required to accept more Teaching Assistantship funding as a part of their funding package. See the TSSU website and collective agreement for more details regarding base units and teaching assistantship responsibilities.

[4] Disbursed in 3 equal amounts over 3 terms

[5] Supervisors’ payment of tuition may count towards minimum funding. Students who are eligible for the 51ÉçÇøºÚÁÏemployee tuition waiver may have a reduced minimum funding. Prospective students should discuss this with their supervisor.