Teaching Assistantships & Financial Support

Financial Support

The department makes every effort to provide financial support for graduate students. Normally, this takes the form of graduate teaching assistantships, entrance scholarships, and, occasionally, graduate research assistantships. Please note that it is an exception to have any financial support during the summer semester, which runs from May to August. You will generally have to make alternative plans for financial support during the summer. If you are planning not to study during the summer, you must apply for a leave of absence from the program.

Graduate students may be supported through payment from research grants received by faculty members or from other sources that support research in which graduate students can participate.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs)

MA students are eligible for graduate teaching assistantships. Once GTA positions have been assigned, the student must meet with the instructor who will be teaching the course to discuss the expectations of the position and negotiate its terms. The department attempts to assign graduate teaching assistants to courses for which they are most suited.

Graduate Teaching Assistantship Contracts

Every graduate teaching assistant and course instructor must submit a form entitled "Assignment of Work Agreement" which outlines the expectations of the student during the assistantship and the amount of time to be spent on those expectations. The GTA’s duties should be as detailed as possible, and the form must be submitted to the Graduate Program Assistant within seven days of the commencement of employment. Students and instructors should each keep a copy of the work agreement form. The contract should be followed as closely as possible throughout the semester.

Graduate teaching assistants are expected to work 140 hours over approximately 14 weeks. Half appointments are for 70 hours over approximately 14 weeks. If your allocated hours differ considerably from that noted in your Assignment of Work Agreement, please inform the course instructor as soon as possible.

Graduate teaching assistants are unionized. Copies of the collective agreement between the University and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are available on the Human Resources website.

If there are any problems with graduate teaching assistant pay, please check with Student Financial Services, located in the University Centre.

Scholarships and Awards

There are several departmental awards, some of which require an application:

  • Jean, Ian and Sook-Hee Kim Memorial Prize
  • Joanne Duncan-Robinson Conference Research Travel Grant
  • Koji Victor Ujimoto Graduate Scholarship
  • Sid Gilbert Graduate Research Prize
  • Wilda M. Blacklock Scholarship

For more information on these awards, visit the U of G Graduate Award Search.

Departmental Conference Travel and Research Grants

The department has funds to assist graduate students who are required to travel to present their thesis/dissertation research at an academic conference or to conduct degree-related research. Only students who are presenting a paper that is subject to some form of vetting and has been accepted for presentation OR students who are conducting thesis or dissertation research to fulfill requirements of MA or PhD programs in our department will be considered for funding. The application guidelines are available from the Graduate Program Assistant.

External Funding

Students are encouraged to investigate opportunities for external funding such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Scholarships, and Canadian International Development Agency Scholarships.

For information on these and other scholarships, fellowships, grants and bursaries, please visit the Graduate Studies website.