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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 This link will take you to another Web site 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.

Allocations by institution for 2023
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