Funding Policy
Guaranteed Funding
All full-time students are funded as follows: MA students for 20 months (from September of MA1 through April of MA2); PhD students for five years (PhD1 through PhD5 for students entering without prior M.A. degree,听or PhD2 through PhD6 for students who enter with a prior M.A. degree).[1][2]听The funding package is contingent on maintaining a CGPA of 3.5 or higher in graduate (500-to-700-level) Linguistics courses.听Qualifying听year (QY) students are not eligible for funding. The guaranteed funding levels for PhD and MA students are the following (as of Fall 2024):
PhDs (per year)
$23,500, in addition to tuition and fees. The amount to cover tuition and fees will depend on a student鈥檚 residency status (Quebec resident/non-Quebec Canadian/International; Full-time/Additional session).
MAs[3]
$20,000听for 12 months in MA1; $13,333 for 8 months in MA2. Tuition and fees for both years are also covered. The amount to cover tuition and fees will depend on a student鈥檚 residency status (Quebec resident/non-Quebec Canadian/International; Full-time/Non-thesis extension).
Tuition and fee numbers are available听on the Student Accounts site.
Actual Funding
The Department assesses each summer whether it is possible to top-up students' stipends in the coming year. The amount of any top-up is normally conveyed to students by听July 1听by the Graduate Admissions and Funding Director. This procedure means that students' true funding level in a given year is usually higher than the guaranteed minimum. In the past five years, stipends have been:
| Academic Year | PhD | MA |
| 2024-25 | $26,500 | $23,000 |
| 2023-24 | $24,000* | $20,500* |
| 2022-23 | $22,000 | $18,500 |
| 2021-22 | $23,000** | $20,000** |
| 2020-21 | $21,000 | $18,000 |
* Includes $2k mid-year top-up (cost-of-living adjustment)
** Includes $2k top-up for COVID 19-related expenses
For example, in AY 2024-25, the actual PhD stipend is $3k higher than minimum guaranteed by an entering student's offer letter ($26.5k vs. $23.5k).
Funding听Sources
Funding comes from a variety of internal and external sources, including:
- External funds obtained by the student
- Faculty of Arts Fellowships
- Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Fellowships
- Department of Linguistics Cremona Fellowship
- Research funds
- Expected Employment (see below)
Application for External Funds
Students are required to apply for external fellowships each year they are eligible to be guaranteed their funding package (minimally: SSHRC Doctoral, CGS Masters, FRQSC Masters, and FRQSC Doctoral fellowships, as applicable). External funding will count towards the student鈥檚 total funding package. Students must report to the department in writing the names and amounts of any award(s) you receive within two months of receiving the notice of the award(s).
Funding from Expected Employment
Based on recent historical data, we expect that you will have the opportunity to work as a Teaching Assistant:
- PhD: 120 hours per year, on average, in Years 2-5
- MA: 240 hours, in Year 2.
This assumes that you are legally allowed to work in Canada, apply for the recommended number of posted employment positions, and meet all stated requirements of those positions. All allocations of TAships are subject to the requirements set down by the union that manages TAships () and the Department of Linguistics does not guarantee when or how often you will TA.
The department encourages students not to TA in their first year, as they already have a heavy courseload and are fully funded.
When you have TAed for less than 480 hours (PhD) or 240 hours (MA) total , the department may write 1-2 TAships into your annual funding letter for Fall term and/or Winter term (one TAship per term) as expected employment counting towards your funding. If you apply for a TAship anticipated in the letter and do not receive a position, or there are no TAships available to apply to, the department will increase your funding package by the amount of one TAship, from another source (e.g., a research grant).
Students who TA while fully funded on an external fellowships (or equivalent) will receive their TA salary in addition to their funding package.听Students who teach linguistics courses as Course Lecturers听will receive these salaries in addition to their funding package, if the required TA hours described above have been completed.听
More details about TAships and Course Lecturerships, as well as all other aspects of the Funding Policy, are given in the annual funding letter.
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[1]听Determination of funding will normally be made before the beginning of each academic year.
[2] PhD students who switch to the MA after two or more years in the PhD will not be funded in the MA.
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