University of Saskatchewan Scholarships for International Students 2026

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) in Saskatoon funds international students through a wide, layered system rather than one flagship prize. At undergraduate level there are automatic awards you are considered for simply by applying for admission on time — headlined by the CAD 10,000 International Excellence Award and the CAD 20,000 International Baccalaureate (IB) Excellence Award — plus one of Canada’s largest automatic entrance scholarship programs, competitive awards decided through the university’s PAWS portal, and regional awards for international students already studying in Canadian high schools. At graduate level, the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies funds students through Dean’s Scholarships, University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarships and a dedicated Dean’s Doctoral Scholarship for international students.

This guide is built from USask’s official admissions and awards pages, checked at the time of writing. It tells you exactly which deadline controls which award — at USask, timing is the scholarship strategy, because the February 15 admission deadline quietly decides most international awards — and it is honest about scale: USask’s undergraduate international awards are one-time payments, not renewable full rides, and they work best as one layer in a complete funding plan.

For the university itself, see our University of Saskatchewan profile on StudyGraduate. For the national context — including fully funded federal options — read our guide to scholarships in Canada, and search hundreds more awards in the StudyGraduate scholarships directory.

University of Saskatchewan Scholarships at a Glance

Read the “one-time” labels carefully. A CAD 10,000 one-time award against Saskatchewan international tuition is a meaningful first-year discount; it is not four years of funding. The students who use USask well stack an automatic international award with a guaranteed entrance scholarship where eligible, add competitive and college awards through PAWS, and then perform well enough to access in-course awards in later years.

Why USask? Saskatoon, Research Strength and Prairie Value

USask is a research-intensive university on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, home to national facilities and particular strengths in agriculture and bioresources, veterinary medicine, water security, health sciences and Indigenous engagement. Saskatoon is Saskatchewan’s largest city and one of Canada’s younger, faster-growing student cities, with living costs well below Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary. For international families comparing total cost of attendance rather than headline tuition alone, the combination of mid-range prairie tuition, one-time entrance awards and lower rent is USask’s core proposition — and it is why reading the award deadlines properly matters so much here: missing February 15 forfeits the international awards that make the maths work.

Automatic International Awards: Apply by February 15

International Excellence Award — CAD 10,000

USask’s headline international undergraduate award is a one-time scholarship valued at CAD 10,000, awarded on academic achievement. International students — non-Canadian citizens paying differential (international) tuition and entering a direct-entry college — are considered automatically upon admission; there is no separate scholarship form. The condition that decides everything is the calendar: February 15 is the deadline to apply for admission to be eligible for consideration. USask lists the award with a limited number offered, so it is competitive within the eligible pool even though consideration is automatic — a stronger admission average is your application. Recipients may also receive a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship on top, which USask confirms these international awards can accompany.

IB Excellence Award — CAD 20,000 for IB Diploma graduates

If you are completing the full International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, USask’s most valuable automatic international award is the IB Excellence Award, a one-time CAD 20,000 scholarship for international students, again considered automatically upon admission with the same February 15 admission deadline. Assessment is based on academic achievement as presented by your predicted or anticipated IB diploma scores, and supporting documents, the application fee and English proficiency requirements must be completed by the published document deadline (March 1 in the published cycle guidance). Do not confuse this with the CAD 3,000 IB Diploma Program Excellence Award — that smaller figure is the domestic-student version. International IB graduates are assessed for the CAD 20,000 award.

School-network awards: CAD 15,000 awards

USask also recognises where you studied. The Canadian Curriculum Schools Awards (CAD 15,000), the Council of International Schools Awards (CAD 15,000) and the Maple Leaf International School Award (CAD 15,000, per USask’s entrance awards listing) serve international students graduating from those school networks, with March 1 award deadlines and, for the curriculum and CIS awards, an application submitted through the Scholarships and Bursaries channel in PAWS. If your school belongs to one of these networks, this is frequently the largest single award available to you — larger than the International Excellence Award — and it is the one students most often miss because they assume all international awards are automatic.

Automatic Entrance Scholarships Open to All High Achievers

USask Entrance Scholarships — 600 awards of CAD 5,000

Separately from the international suite, USask recognises 600 high-achieving entering students each year with USask Entrance Scholarships valued at CAD 5,000. Students entering direct-entry degree programs — Agriculture and Bioresources, Arts and Science, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Kinesiology and the Edwards School of Business — are considered automatically based on admission average. The consideration deadline is earlier than most students expect: submit the online application for admission including the fee, and ensure your transcript and other admission documents reach the Admissions Office by December 1. Offers are sent by email from late April, and payment is applied directly to your account for tuition and fees by mid-September provided you are enrolled in a minimum of 18 credit units across the Fall and Winter terms and your final official transcript has been sent directly to USask. Eligibility covers current high school students and recent graduates with fewer than 18 transferable credit units of prior post-secondary study.

Guaranteed Entrance Scholarships — CAD 500 to CAD 3,000 by average

The Guaranteed Entrance Scholarships are USask’s promise that a stated admission average produces a stated award, again with automatic consideration when you apply for admission to a direct-entry college. The published tiers are: 95% or higher — CAD 3,000; 93% to 94.9% — CAD 2,000; 90% to 92.9% — CAD 1,000; 85% to 89.9% — CAD 500. If you apply during Grade 12, your average is calculated twice — at admission and again after graduation on your final official transcript — and your scholarship is based on the higher of the two, so a strong finish can move you up a tier. Guaranteed awards are confirmed in your admission letter, with any post-graduation increase notified by email, and are paid to your account by mid-September under the same 18-credit-unit enrolment condition. Where you qualify for more than one entrance award, expect the university’s rules on holding the higher-value award or the permitted combinations — USask confirms the international student awards can be received in addition to a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship.

Best and Brightest and Competitive Entrance Awards

USask’s highest-value renewable entrance scholarships sit in the Best and Brightest family, awarded on academics, leadership and contributions to school and community life. The published values are substantial: the George and Marsha Ivany President’s First and Best Scholarships at CAD 40,000 (CAD 10,000 per year over four years), Chancellors’ Scholarships and University of Saskatchewan Entrance Scholarships at CAD 30,000 (CAD 7,500 per year over four years), Edwards Undergraduate Scholarships at CAD 36,000 (CAD 9,000 per year over four years), and College of Agriculture and Bioresources renewable entrance scholarships at CAD 24,000 (CAD 6,000 per year over four years). Five Best and Brightest awards, the Circle of Honour Awards, are designated for Indigenous students. To be considered you must complete your admission application by December 1 and submit the Best and Brightest application in PAWS by December 15. A necessary honesty note: individual Best and Brightest awards carry their own terms in PAWS, and some carry citizenship or residency conditions — international applicants should read each award’s terms before investing application time, and treat the family as “check eligibility per award” rather than assuming all five are open to study-permit students.

The broader Competitive Entrance Awards pool contains numerous scholarships and bursaries assessed on combinations of academic achievement, financial need, and school and community contributions, including awards recognising particular backgrounds, music and athletics. To be considered, complete your admission application by February 15 and submit the Competitive Entrance Scholarships and/or Competitive Entrance Bursaries applications in PAWS by March 1. The applications ask for specific, dated lists of activities, reference letters tailored to each award’s criteria, and — for bursaries — a Financial Need Calculator section including, for dependent students, parents’ or guardians’ tax information from the most recent tax year. Offers are emailed from April 1 through July 1, and winners have two weeks to accept in PAWS. This pool is where thorough applicants quietly outperform brilliant-but-rushed ones: the forms reward preparation, not just grades.

Regional and College Awards for International Students

A distinctive USask feature is its set of awards for international students already in Canada at provincial high schools, all automatic on academic achievement with a May 1 admission deadline: international students from Saskatchewan high schools — CAD 15,000 (four awards); from Manitoba — CAD 10,000; from Alberta — CAD 10,000; from British Columbia — CAD 10,000; from Ontario — CAD 10,000; and Indigenous students from the USA — CAD 10,000 (two awards). If you are an international student finishing high school in Canada, these are effectively a second international award system running in parallel, with a later deadline than the main February 15 suite.

At college level, note the Dean’s Circle ESB International Student Awards: ten awards of CAD 5,000 each for entering international students in the Bachelor of Commerce at the Edwards School of Business, selected on academic achievement, with all entry requirements including English proficiency met at the time of consideration. Similar college-level awards exist across USask’s award database — searching the official entrance awards listing by “international” after you choose your college is a ten-minute task with a real expected return.

Graduate Funding: Dean’s Scholarships and UGS

Graduate funding at USask is administered through the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (CGPS) and the departments, and it is structured around research programs. The two core university-wide awards work as follows. The University Dean’s Scholarship has been published at CAD 18,000 per year for master’s students for up to two years and CAD 22,000 per year for PhD students for up to three years, for students registering for the first time in a thesis or dissertation-based program, with a high entrance average (85% in published criteria) and evidence of research activity such as a refereed publication or conference presentation. The University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarships (UGS) have been published at CAD 16,000 per year for master’s (up to two years) and CAD 20,000 per year for PhD (up to three years), open only in select departments, with new and continuing students in good academic standing nominated by their departments. Because CGPS updates graduate funding values periodically and departmental packages vary, verify the current values on the CGPS graduate funding pages for your intake rather than treating any published figure — including these — as guaranteed.

International doctoral students have an additional, dedicated route: the Dean’s Doctoral Scholarships for International Students, published by USask colleges at CAD 24,000 per year for two years, for applicants with outstanding academic records who show research promise through publications and academic presentations and are entering or continuing doctoral studies at USask. Layered around these are supervisor-funded research assistantships, teaching assistantships, departmental fellowships and national Tri-Agency competitions — including the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS-D) at CAD 40,000 per year for 36 months. Note that the Vanier scholarship has been discontinued; current doctoral planning should be built on CGRS-D and university awards, not Vanier.

Eligibility: The Common Rules

For the undergraduate international awards you must be an international student — a non-Canadian citizen paying differential tuition — entering a direct-entry college, and you must meet USask’s admission requirements including English language proficiency by the document deadlines. Automatic does not mean unconditional: each award rides on an admission deadline (December 1 for the CAD 5,000 entrance scholarships and Best and Brightest consideration; February 15 for the International Excellence, IB Excellence and competitive pools; May 1 for the provincial-high-school awards), and payment requires actual enrolment — at least 18 credit units across Fall and Winter for the main entrance scholarships. Graduate Dean’s and UGS awards require full-time registration in eligible (generally thesis-based) programs, strong standing, and in the UGS case a department that participates and nominates you.

What the Awards Cover — and the Saskatchewan Budget

USask entrance scholarships are applied directly to your student account against tuition and fees; they are not living-expense stipends, and the international undergraduate awards are one-time payments. Even a strong stack — say the CAD 10,000 International Excellence Award plus a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship — covers only part of first-year international tuition, so your funding plan must still carry the remaining tuition plus living costs for every year of the degree. Saskatoon’s lower rents soften that considerably compared with Canada’s largest cities, but for the study permit itself, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) applies national figures: a single applicant must show living funds of CAD 22,895 for applications from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026, rising to CAD 23,448 from 1 September 2026, on top of first-year tuition and travel. Present your USask award letters as part of that evidence — they reduce the tuition you must show as funded, but they do not reduce the IRCC living-funds figure.

How to Apply, Step by Step

Step 1 — Apply for admission by December 1 if you can. Submitting your online admission application, paying the fee and getting transcripts and documents in by December 1 preserves every option: the 600 CAD 5,000 entrance scholarships and Best and Brightest eligibility both close here.

Step 2 — Activate PAWS and submit Best and Brightest by December 15 if you are targeting the renewable CAD 24,000–40,000 family and your chosen awards’ terms allow international applicants. Your PAWS login arrives by email within two to three business days of applying, so a December 1 admission application leaves the window very tight — apply in November if this family matters to you.

Step 3 — Protect February 15 absolutely. This is the admission deadline for the International Excellence Award (CAD 10,000), the IB Excellence Award (CAD 20,000) and the competitive awards pool. Complete admission documents by the published document deadline (March 1 in recent guidance).

Step 4 — Submit competitive applications in PAWS by March 1. File the Competitive Entrance Scholarships and Bursaries forms, with tailored activity lists, references and the Financial Need Calculator where relevant, and the PAWS applications for the Canadian Curriculum Schools and Council of International Schools awards if your school network qualifies you.

Step 5 — Accept offers within two weeks. USask award offers must be accepted through the Scholarships and Bursaries channel in PAWS within the window stated in the offer email (two weeks for competitive offers). Missed acceptances are a real and avoidable loss.

Step 6 — Enrol in at least 18 credit units across Fall and Winter and arrange for your final official transcript to be sent directly to USask, so your entrance scholarships are actually paid by mid-September.

Graduate applicants follow a departmental path: secure admission to an eligible thesis-based program, discuss Dean’s Scholarship and UGS nomination with your department or supervisor early, and build the publication or conference record the Dean’s criteria reward.

Required Documents

For admission and automatic awards: the online admission application and fee; interim and final official high school transcripts (your final average is recalculated on the final transcript for guaranteed awards); proof of English proficiency; and IB predicted or final scores if you are an IB candidate. For PAWS applications: dated, specific lists of school and community activities; reference letters written for the particular awards (USask advises choosing referees who know you well, briefing them, checking the letters actually describe you, and thanking them); and, for bursaries, the Financial Need Calculator with family income information. Graduate applicants add transcripts, a research statement, CV and references as their program requires.

Deadlines and Timeline

Selection Tips

USask rewards calendar discipline above almost everything: a November application keeps three award families alive that a February application cannot recover. For automatic awards, your final transcript matters as much as your predicted grades — guaranteed award amounts are recalculated on final results and can rise, so finish school strongly. For competitive awards, follow USask’s own advice: make activity lists specific and dated, tailor each one to the award’s criteria rather than pasting one generic list everywhere, choose referees who can write in detail about you, give them your résumé and the award description, and proofread what is submitted. IB students should ensure predicted scores are sent accurately and early, because the CAD 20,000 IB Excellence assessment leans on them. Graduate applicants should treat publications and conference presentations as funding documents — they are explicit selection evidence for the Dean’s awards.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The costliest error is applying for admission after February 15 and discovering the International Excellence and IB Excellence awards are no longer available to you. Second is assuming “automatic” means “no deadlines” — the CAD 5,000 entrance scholarships close on December 1 document completion, months earlier than most students apply. Third is leaving a PAWS application started but unsubmitted; USask states unsubmitted applications are not considered. Fourth is missing the two-week acceptance window on an award offer. Fifth is enrolling in fewer than 18 credit units and blocking payment. Sixth is confusing the international IB Excellence Award (CAD 20,000) with the domestic IB award (CAD 3,000), or budgeting USask’s one-time awards as if they renewed annually. Finally, graduate applicants should not quote superseded Dean’s or UGS figures from old blog posts — CGPS updates values, and your department’s current funding letter is the only figure to budget on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the University of Saskatchewan International Excellence Award worth?

CAD 10,000 as a one-time scholarship, awarded on academic achievement to international students entering a direct-entry college. Consideration is automatic upon admission — but only if you apply for admission by February 15.

How much is the IB Excellence Award for international students?

CAD 20,000 one-time, for international students completing the full IB Diploma Programme, considered automatically upon admission by February 15. The CAD 3,000 IB figure you may see is the separate domestic-student award.

Are USask entrance scholarships renewable?

The international awards (International Excellence, IB Excellence, school-network and regional awards) are one-time payments. The renewable money at USask sits in the Best and Brightest family — CAD 24,000 to CAD 40,000 over four years — which requires a December 1 admission application and a December 15 PAWS application, with per-award terms to check.

What average do I need for a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship?

The published tiers start at 85%: CAD 500 for 85–89.9%, CAD 1,000 for 90–92.9%, CAD 2,000 for 93–94.9% and CAD 3,000 for 95%+. Your amount is based on your highest average — at admission or on your final transcript.

Can I hold an international award and a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship together?

Yes — USask confirms recipients of the international student awards remain eligible to receive a Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship in addition. Other combinations follow each award’s terms.

What scholarships does USask offer graduate students?

The Dean’s Scholarship (published at CAD 18,000 per year for master’s up to two years and CAD 22,000 per year for PhD up to three years), the University of Saskatchewan Graduate Scholarships (CAD 16,000/CAD 20,000 per year in select departments, by nomination), the Dean’s Doctoral Scholarships for International Students (CAD 24,000 per year for two years), plus assistantships and national competitions such as CGRS-D (CAD 40,000 per year for 36 months). Verify current values with CGPS.

I’m an international student at a Canadian high school. Is there anything extra for me?

Yes. USask runs automatic awards for international students applying from high schools in Saskatchewan (CAD 15,000), Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario (CAD 10,000 each), plus CAD 15,000 school-network awards for Canadian Curriculum Schools and Council of International Schools students, with a May 1 admission deadline for the provincial awards.

How much living money do I need to show for the study permit?

IRCC requires a single applicant to show CAD 22,895 (applications from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026) or CAD 23,448 (from 1 September 2026) for living expenses, in addition to first-year tuition and travel — your USask awards reduce the tuition side, not this figure.

Sources & Verification

This article was prepared from the University of Saskatchewan’s official sources: the USask Admissions “Scholarships” pages (USask Entrance Scholarships of CAD 5,000 to 600 students with the December 1 document deadline; Best and Brightest values and December 15 PAWS deadline; Competitive Entrance Awards process and March 1 deadline; IB awards; International Excellence Award of CAD 10,000 and the February 15 rule; regional international awards and May 1 deadline), the USask entrance awards search listing (school-network awards of CAD 15,000, Dean’s Circle ESB International Student Awards of CAD 5,000, International Student Entrance Bursaries), USask’s published Guaranteed Entrance Scholarship tiers, and USask college and College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies funding pages for the Dean’s Scholarships, UGS and Dean’s Doctoral Scholarships for International Students — with graduate values flagged in the text for re-verification because CGPS updates them. Study permit living-funds figures follow IRCC’s published table.

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