Concordia University Scholarships for International Students 2026/27

Concordia University in Montreal runs its scholarship system differently from most Canadian universities, and international students who understand the difference do measurably better out of it. At undergraduate level there is no central scholarship application to hunt down: entrance scholarships are awarded by the faculties themselves, automatically, on academic ranking, to new bachelor’s students entering in the fall — and if you are not selected, nobody emails you to say so. Layered on top is a new guaranteed award, the Concordia Undergraduate Excellence Awards, worth $4,000 to eligible new undergraduates who clear published grade thresholds. At graduate level, the single most valuable instrument is almost invisible in undergraduate guides: the International Tuition Award of Excellence, which reduces an international doctoral student’s tuition to the Quebec-resident rate — a benefit Concordia values at approximately $47,463 — and which is awarded on admission to essentially every eligible incoming international PhD student.

This guide explains Concordia’s full funding landscape for 2026/27 as the university itself publishes it: faculty entrance scholarships, the $4,000 guaranteed Excellence Awards and their exact thresholds, in-course scholarships decided each October on a 3.30 GPA rule, application-based Concordia awards, and graduate funding including the doctoral tuition award, the Special Entrance Award for externally funded students, merit scholarships and the John Molson School of Business environment. Read it alongside our full Concordia University profile, the StudyGraduate scholarships directory and our national guide to scholarships in Canada — and remember the Quebec difference throughout: studying in Montreal also means a CAQ (Quebec Acceptance Certificate) before your federal study permit.

Concordia Scholarships at a Glance

Undergraduate Entrance Scholarships: Automatic, Faculty-Run, Silent

Concordia’s official scholarships page sets out the mechanics plainly. Entrance scholarships are offered to bachelor’s admission candidates every fall. The primary criterion for all scholarships is high academic achievement, selection for most is automatic and based on academic ranking, and the awards are made by the faculties — Arts and Science, Fine Arts, the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the John Molson School of Business — on the basis of top CEGEP grades or equivalent (Canadian high school and other qualifications are assessed as equivalents). An offer of admission does not guarantee an entrance scholarship, and that sentence deserves emphasis: admission and scholarship selection are separate decisions, made on ranking within each faculty’s applicant pool.

Eligibility

Entrance scholarships are available to full-time students entering university studies for the first time, based on completion of CEGEP, Canadian high school or college, or an equivalent qualification, and candidates must be admitted to a bachelor’s program. They are not available to visiting students, independent students or students admitted to certificate programs. International qualifications are assessed as equivalents, so international school-leavers entering a bachelor’s degree for the first time are inside this system — your ranking is simply computed against your cohort on your qualification’s scale.

How and when selection happens

Faculties select candidates and forward recommendations to the Financial Aid and Awards Office during admission processing, beginning in winter and continuing into spring until the available awards are filled. Only selected candidates are notified. For Faculty of Fine Arts programs that require a portfolio for admission, selection is based on the portfolio rather than pre-admission grades — a genuinely different competition in which your creative work, not your average, does the arguing. Because awards are filled progressively through winter and spring, earlier complete applications are ranked while more awards remain unallocated; this is the closest thing Concordia has to an early-application advantage, and it rewards students whose files are complete early in the admission cycle.

What the awards look like in practice

Concordia does not publish a single guaranteed entrance table for faculty awards (the Excellence Awards below are the guaranteed element). Instead, each faculty administers named awards: the Gina Cody School’s published entrance listings, for example, include awards such as the Jack Bordan Entrance Scholarship in Engineering and Computer Science ($2,800), the François Plourde Fund award for a female student at the Gina Cody School ($4,000), the Concordia University Memorial Endowment Entrance Scholarship ($1,500) and several faculty awards in the $1,250–$2,000 range, alongside larger competitive awards decided on ranking. The honest summary for an international applicant is this: expect faculty entrance scholarships to be worthwhile but partial — typically thousands, not tens of thousands, of dollars — paid into your university account after registration is verified following the course drop period, with higher-value awards split into two equal instalments across the fall and winter terms. Any website promising you a specific large Concordia entrance figure without a faculty letter in your hand is guessing; the university’s own position is that amounts follow ranking, faculty and the year’s award inventory.

The Concordia Undergraduate Excellence Awards: $4,000 Guaranteed

Concordia’s newest entrance instrument changes the psychology of the system. The Concordia Undergraduate Excellence Awards offer a guaranteed entrance scholarship of $4,000 to new undergraduate students who demonstrate academic excellence — no application, no essay, no extra step: if you meet the eligibility requirements, you receive the award. In announcing the program, Concordia published the thresholds for students admitted for fall 2027 or winter 2028: a CEGEP R-score of 33 or above; a Grade 12 A or A+ average; or a French Baccalaureate average of 16 or above. One eligibility nuance must be stated exactly as Concordia states it: the university describes these guaranteed awards as being for new undergraduate students in Canada. International students already studying in Canada on those qualifications fit that description naturally; international applicants applying from schools outside Canada should confirm their eligibility directly with the Financial Aid and Awards Office rather than assuming the guarantee extends to every qualification worldwide. What is not in doubt is the direction of travel: Concordia is putting automatic money behind top grades, and applicants with A-band averages should ask the question explicitly at admission.

In-Course Scholarships: The October Competition

Concordia’s continuing-student system is unusually transparent. In-course scholarships are awarded automatically by the Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards Committee on the basis of top Assessment GPA, with a minimum Assessment GPA of 3.30 required. Eligibility requires enrolment in a bachelor’s program and completion of at least one semester of studies at Concordia; a limited number of in-course scholarships are open to part-time students. Consideration begins in October/November using the preceding academic year’s results: candidates are ranked in descending order on Assessment GPA, then credits completed in program, then cumulative GPA — a published tie-breaking order you can plan around. Decisions and offers are normally made in the first two weeks of October. For international students, whose entrance awards are typically one-time, this October cycle is the renewable engine of a Concordia funding plan: a 3.30+ first year puts you in the ranked pool every subsequent year, and the ranking formula rewards students who combine high grades with a full, completed credit load.

Concordia Awards and Bursaries: The Application-Based Layer

Alongside the automatic systems sit the Concordia Awards — awards that require an application, many of them named scholarships with academic eligibility requirements, with applications opening in August. Faculties also run their own application-based competitions; published examples in the Gina Cody School include CIBC Entrance Scholarships in Engineering ($5,000) open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents and international students in their first year of computer science, computer engineering or software engineering who belong to specified equity-deserving groups, with a December application deadline. Concordia’s Financial Aid and Awards Office additionally administers bursaries assessed on financial need through the entrance and in-course bursary programs — international students should complete any bursary application the university opens to them, since need-based funds are the layer most applicants never claim. The working rule: automatic awards need no action, but the application-based layer rewards students who check the awards listings each August and December rather than waiting to be found.

Graduate Funding: Where Concordia’s Big Numbers Live

Automatic consideration at admission

Concordia’s School of Graduate Studies states that all graduate applicants are automatically considered for entrance scholarships through their individual faculty or department’s graduate admissions office — no separate scholarship application exists. Competitive funding packages are offered at the time of admission to allow students to focus on their research and studies. Concordia’s graduate funding listings have publicised a flagship set in recent cycles: Top Concordian Undergraduate/Graduate Entrance Scholarships valued at $10,000; Concordia Merit Scholarships valued at $10,000; and Concordia Doctoral Graduate Fellowships valued at $14,000 per year for four years. Because named graduate awards and values are refreshed by the School of Graduate Studies, treat these as the published shape of the system and confirm the current figures attached to your own admission offer — the number that matters is the one in your funding letter, ideally broken down by year and by source (fellowship, assistantship, tuition award).

International Tuition Award of Excellence (doctoral)

This is the award international PhD applicants must understand. Concordia’s official page describes it as a prestigious scholarship for incoming U.S. and international doctoral students, reducing their tuition fees to the rate paid by domestic Quebec students. Concordia values the award at approximately $47,463. Eligibility requires admission to a doctoral program at Concordia as an incoming international (or U.S.) student, and that you are not already benefiting from funding that reduces your tuition to the Quebec rate — for example through sponsorship by an institution, a government mobility award or another organisation. The application is integrated into admission: your admission application serves as your award application, and Concordia states that all international doctoral students will be awarded the International Tuition Award of Excellence upon admission to the doctoral program, except those whose tuition is sponsored by external agencies. You remain responsible for tuition at the regular Quebec rate, plus miscellaneous fees and the yearly international health insurance. Two cautions: first, some older third-party pages attach a smaller figure (around $39,280) to this award’s name, reflecting earlier valuations — Concordia’s current official page for the doctoral award gives approximately $47,463, and the doctoral award is the one documented on that page. Second, the award reduces tuition; it is not a stipend. A complete doctoral budget still needs living support, which is where fellowships and assistantships come in.

Special Entrance Award

If you arrive already holding a provincial, federal or prestigious foundation scholarship, Concordia tops it up: the Special Entrance Award is valued at $6,000 for master’s students and $10,000 for doctoral students. You must hold the external award at the moment you start your program, and students holding a Volt-Age award are not eligible. No application is required — you email the Graduate Awards office with proof of the external award. Master’s awards are disbursed over two full-time terms and doctoral awards over three terms, paid after each term’s DNE (registration) deadline once full-time registration is confirmed. It is free money that depends entirely on you remembering to send one email; diarise it before you land in Montreal.

Faculties and the John Molson School of Business

Graduate funding at Concordia is completed by the faculties. The John Molson School of Business administers merit-based entrance and in-program awards for its graduate programs (including MBA and research master’s/PhD streams) through its own awards processes, and the Gina Cody School and Faculty of Arts and Science run donor-funded graduate awards — Concordia’s donor awards listings include entrance fellowships open to Canadian, permanent resident, U.S. and international students alike, such as a $20,000 entrance scholarship in chemistry and biochemistry. Teaching and research assistantships, allocated by departments, complete most research students’ packages. Because these awards are faculty-administered and vary by year, the reliable method is to ask your graduate program director, in writing, three questions before accepting: which entrance awards was I considered for, what is my funding for each year of the program, and what assistantship work is attached.

The federal layer

Doctoral students should also note the national change: the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship has been discontinued. Canada’s flagship doctoral competition is now the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS-D) at CAD 40,000 per year for up to 36 months, open to eligible doctoral students at Canadian universities including Concordia. Holding a major federal or provincial award also unlocks Concordia’s Special Entrance Award top-up described above — one more reason research-stream applicants should compete federally rather than treating university funding as the whole game. Master’s students note: the companion CGRS-M program is domestic-only, so international master’s funding at Concordia comes from the university, faculty and donor layers above.

Eligibility Summary

How to Apply, Step by Step

1. Apply for admission by your program’s deadline — fall entry for undergraduate entrance scholarship eligibility. Complete files early: faculty selection runs from winter into spring and awards are filled progressively.
2. Do nothing extra for entrance scholarships — but verify. Selection is automatic on academic ranking; only selected candidates are notified. If your grades sit in the A band, ask the Financial Aid and Awards Office about the $4,000 Undergraduate Excellence Awards and your eligibility for them.
3. Fine Arts applicants: invest in the portfolio. Your scholarship ranking follows your portfolio, not your grades.
4. Graduate applicants: maximise the admission file. Entrance consideration is automatic through your faculty; your leverage is the strength of your application, references and research proposal, plus early contact with the program.
5. Doctoral admits: confirm your tuition award in writing. The International Tuition Award of Excellence should accompany admission unless your tuition is externally sponsored — check your offer letter for it.
6. External award holders: claim the top-up. Email the Graduate Awards office with proof of your federal/provincial/foundation award to trigger the Special Entrance Award ($6,000 master’s / $10,000 doctoral).
7. Once enrolled, defend a 3.30+ Assessment GPA and complete a full credit load to rank for October in-course scholarships; check application-based Concordia Awards each August.
8. Complete the CAQ and study permit process with full financial documentation.

Required Documents

• Concordia admission application, transcripts and program-specific materials (portfolio for Fine Arts)
• English proficiency results meeting your program’s requirement (French may be required for French-language programs)
• No separate form for entrance scholarships, Excellence Awards (automatic) or graduate entrance consideration
• Proof of external award (for the graduate Special Entrance Award) — emailed to the Graduate Awards office
• CAQ application documents and federal study permit documents, including financial proof

Deadlines and Timeline

How to Improve Your Chances

At undergraduate level your ranking is your application: because faculties rank on top grades (or portfolio, in Fine Arts), the strongest scholarship strategy is a complete, early application carrying the highest grades you can present, in a program whose applicant pool your record genuinely competes in. Silence is not rejection information — Concordia notifies only selected candidates — so do not wait for scholarship news before accepting admission and starting your CAQ; funding letters and immigration run on separate clocks. Once enrolled, the published in-course formula is a strategy document in itself: Assessment GPA first, then credits completed, then cumulative GPA — meaning a full course load at a 3.40 beats a reduced load at a 3.50 for ranking purposes in many cases, and both beat any GPA under the 3.30 threshold, which excludes you entirely. At graduate level, write the research proposal your faculty’s scholarship committee wishes it could fund, secure referees who can evidence research potential, and compete for external federal and provincial awards: at Concordia an external award is doubly valuable, because the university tops it up with the Special Entrance Award. Finally, learn enough French to work in Montreal: it does not change your scholarship ranking, but it transforms your part-time work options in a bilingual labour market, and for most international students earnings — not awards — are the largest controllable line in the funding plan.

Common Mistakes

• Waiting for a scholarship application that does not exist. Concordia entrance selection is automatic; the mistake is a weak or late admission file, not a missing form.
• Reading silence as failure too early — or as success. Only selected candidates are notified, and selection runs winter into spring. Plan finances without assumed awards.
• Assuming the $4,000 Excellence Award covers every international applicant. Concordia describes it for new undergraduate students in Canada with published grade thresholds; confirm your eligibility in writing.
• Confusing the doctoral tuition award’s value. Concordia’s current official doctoral page values the International Tuition Award of Excellence at approximately $47,463 as a reduction to the Quebec rate — not a cash stipend, and not the older figures on third-party sites.
• Forgetting the Special Entrance Award email. External award holders must notify the Graduate Awards office with proof; the top-up is not triggered automatically.
• Neglecting the 3.30 rule. A first-year Assessment GPA below 3.30 removes you from in-course scholarship ranking the following October.
• Skipping the CAQ. Quebec study requires the CAQ before the federal study permit for most students; starting it late delays everything, scholarships included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Concordia give scholarships to international undergraduate students?

Yes. International students entering a bachelor’s program full-time for the first time are inside Concordia’s entrance scholarship system: faculties select automatically on academic ranking (portfolio for Fine Arts) during admission processing. Amounts vary by faculty and ranking, and only selected candidates are notified.

Is there a guaranteed Concordia entrance scholarship?

The Concordia Undergraduate Excellence Awards guarantee $4,000 to eligible new undergraduate students in Canada who meet published thresholds — CEGEP R-score 33+, Grade 12 A/A+ average, or French Baccalaureate 16+ — with no application required. International applicants from outside Canada should confirm eligibility with the Financial Aid and Awards Office.

How are Concordia entrance scholarships paid?

They are disbursed to your university account after registration is verified following the course drop period. Higher-value awards are paid in two equal instalments over the fall and winter terms.

What is the International Tuition Award of Excellence?

A doctoral award that reduces tuition for incoming U.S. and international PhD students to the Quebec-resident rate, valued by Concordia at approximately $47,463. It is integrated into admission and awarded on admission to eligible international doctoral students whose tuition is not already sponsored or reduced by another source. You still pay Quebec-rate tuition, miscellaneous fees and health insurance.

What graduate scholarships can international students receive at Concordia?

Automatic faculty consideration at admission covers graduate entrance awards; Concordia’s listings have included Top Concordian awards ($10,000), Merit Scholarships ($10,000) and Doctoral Graduate Fellowships ($14,000 per year for four years) — confirm current values with the School of Graduate Studies. Add the doctoral tuition award, faculty and donor awards (some explicitly open to international students), assistantships, and the Special Entrance Award top-up ($6,000 master’s / $10,000 doctoral) for holders of external awards.

How do in-course scholarships work?

After at least one semester in a bachelor’s program, students with an Assessment GPA of at least 3.30 are ranked automatically each fall — by Assessment GPA, then credits completed, then cumulative GPA — with decisions in the first two weeks of October. No application is required for most in-course scholarships.

Do I need French to study at Concordia?

Most Concordia programs are taught in English and set English proficiency requirements; French-language programs require French. French is not a scholarship criterion, but it significantly widens part-time work options in Montreal.

What financial proof do I need for my study permit?

Tuition plus IRCC living funds — CAD 22,895 for applications submitted by 31 August 2026 and CAD 23,448 from 1 September 2026 — and, for Quebec, the CAQ process with its own requirements. Scholarship offers do not replace documented funds.

Sources & Verification

• Concordia University — Scholarships (Financial Aid and Awards): entrance scholarship mechanics, eligibility, $4,000 Undergraduate Excellence Awards, in-course 3.30 rule and October decisions — concordia.ca scholarships
• Concordia University — News: “Concordia introduces $4,000 entrance awards for top-achieving students” (thresholds: CEGEP R 33+, Grade 12 A/A+, French Bac 16+; fall 2027/winter 2028) — concordia.ca news
• Concordia University, School of Graduate Studies — International Tuition Award of Excellence: doctoral, Quebec-rate reduction, approx. $47,463 — concordia.ca International Tuition Award of Excellence
• Concordia University, School of Graduate Studies — Special Entrance Award ($6,000 master’s / $10,000 doctoral) — concordia.ca Special Entrance Award
• Concordia University, Gina Cody School — Undergraduate Entrance Awards listings (named award values).
• IRCC study permit proof-of-funds table: CAD 22,895 to 31 August 2026; CAD 23,448 from 1 September 2026.

Disclaimer: Scholarship values, deadlines and eligibility change yearly. Always confirm deadlines and amounts on the official Concordia University website before applying. StudyGraduate is an information portal, not an agency, and cannot promise admission, scholarship selection or visa approval.