Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
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Undergraduate Student Research Awards allocations
Eligible Canadian institutions receive allocations of Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) corresponding to the number of students to whom they can offer an award every year on behalf of the granting agencies. There is a total of 3,150 USRA allocations available each year from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and 95 each for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). At the present time, CIHR and SSHRC USRAs are exclusively for Black student researchers.
Institutions offer awards according to their USRA allocation throughout three terms offered in May, September and January of each year. Allocations are not transferable to a subsequent year, nor to projects that do not fit within the mandate of the agency funding the award.
For NSERC, USRA applications from self-identified Indigenous and Black student researchers may be submitted beyond the institutions’ allocations.
Allocations are calculated using a two-step process. In the first step, the agencies determine which institutions are eligible for a USRA allocation. In the second step, the size of the allocation is calculated for each eligible institution.
To be eligible for a USRA allocation, an institution must
- be listed in the most recent Canada Research Chairs (CRC) results of reallocation
- be eligible to administer award funds for either NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC
Allocations are calculated based on each institution’s average of the total sum of grant* funding received over the last three fiscal years from NSERC, CIHR and/or SSHRC.
For NSERC: Each institution receives four awards, and then the remaining allocations are distributed based on the share of the total funding. Some very small institutions have only one allocation reserved for them but can request up to four awards should they be able to offer them.
For CIHR and SSHRC: Each institution receives one award, and then the remaining allocations are distributed based on the share of the total funding.
*Grant refers to funds received by applicants’ and co-applicants’ host institutions in Canada for grants programs eligible to be included in the CRC credit calculation (i.e., for the 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 fiscal years). Consult the
Method of allocation chairs web page for further information on the CRC credit calculation.
USRA applications cannot be submitted to institutions that do not appear on this list.
| Institutions (in alphabetical order) |
NSERC | CIHR | SSHRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acadia University | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| Algoma University | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Athabasca University | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Bishop’s University | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Brandon University | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| British Columbia Institute of Technology | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Brock University | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| Canadian Mennonite University | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Cape Breton University | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Carleton University | 51 | 1 | 2 |
| Concordia University | 51 | 1 | 2 |
| Concordia University of Edmonton | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dalhousie University | 70 | 2 | 1 |
| École de technologie supérieure | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| Grant MacEwan University | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| HEC Montréal | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| Institut national de la recherche scientifique | 46 | 1 | 1 |
| Lakehead University | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Laurentian University | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| McGill University | 170 | 5 | 3 |
| McMaster University | 99 | 3 | 2 |
| Memorial University of Newfoundland | 38 | 1 | 1 |
| Mount Allison University | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Mount Royal University | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Mount Saint Vincent University | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Nipissing University | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ontario College of Art and Design University | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Polytechnique de Montréal | 75 | 1 | 1 |
| Queen’s University | 77 | 1 | 2 |
| Redeemer University College | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Royal Military College of Canada | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Royal Roads University | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Saint Mary’s University | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| Simon Fraser University | 65 | 1 | 2 |
| St. Francis Xavier University | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| St. Thomas University | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| TÉLUQ | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| The King's University | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| The University of British Columbia | 216 | 5 | 4 |
| The University of Western Ontario | 94 | 2 | 2 |
| The University of Winnipeg | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Thompson Rivers University | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Toronto Metropolitan University | 39 | 1 | 2 |
| Trent University | 20 | 1 | 1 |
| Trinity Western University | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Université de Moncton | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| Université de Montréal | 80 | 3 | 3 |
| Université de Sherbrooke | 74 | 2 | 1 |
| Université du Québec à Chicoutimi | 22 | 1 | 1 |
| Université du Québec à Montréal | 30 | 1 | 2 |
| Université du Québec à Rimouski | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue | 21 | 1 | 1 |
| Université du Québec en Outaouais | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| Université Laval | 123 | 2 | 2 |
| Université Sainte-Anne | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| University of Alberta | 196 | 3 | 2 |
| University of Calgary | 119 | 3 | 2 |
| University of Guelph | 75 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Lethbridge | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Manitoba | 63 | 2 | 2 |
| University of New Brunswick | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Northern British Columbia | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Ontario Institute of Technology | 28 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Ottawa | 88 | 3 | 2 |
| University of Prince Edward Island | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Regina | 27 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Saskatchewan | 60 | 1 | 1 |
| University of the Fraser Valley | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| University of Toronto | 256 | 9 | 4 |
| University of Victoria | 55 | 1 | 2 |
| University of Waterloo | 168 | 1 | 2 |
| University of Windsor | 33 | 1 | 1 |
| Vancouver Island University | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Wilfrid Laurier University | 23 | 1 | 1 |
| York University | 48 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 3,150 | 95 | 95 |