Frequently Asked Questions About Awards and Scholarships

Wondering what the differences are between the various types of awards, scholarships and bursaries? Here’s an overview on the various options available to our students.

What is an Award?

Award is a generic term that describes an item of monetary or other value that may be presented to a person or persons based upon specific criteria and administered by the Awards Office.

What is a bursary?

Bursary is a monetary award allocated to a student on the basis of proven financial need. Recipients must be in good academic standing.

What is a scholarship?

Scholarships are awards which recognizes exceptional talent/promise of academic excellence in a course or program which is sometimes combined with non-academic criteria (ex: community service, leadership in the field etc.), as well as financial need.

What are faculty awards?

Faculty awards available to George Brown students based on their program.

What are institutional awards?

Institutional awards are not program specific, although they may differentiate eligibility based on other factors (i.e. demographics). Institutional awards are available only to George Brown students.

What are external awards?

External awards are available to students beyond George Brown Polytechnic (i.e. provincially or nationally), and are provided and administered through external government, corporate, or community organizations.

What are Entrance Awards?

Entrance awards recognize prospective students who are not yet attending George Brown Polytechnic.

What are in-course awards?

In-Course awards recognize students who are already attending George Brown Polytechnic including 1st year students.

Wondering if you're eligible to apply for awards and scholarships? Eligibility requirements vary by award, but most opportunities consider factors such as your student status, residency status, and financial need.

What is my student status?

Full-Time Student

You are considered a full-time student if you are enrolled in:

• At least 60% of the prescribed courses in your program, or
• At least 40% of the prescribed courses if you have a permanent disability.

Part-Time Student

You are considered a part-time student if you are enrolled in 20% to 59% of the prescribed courses in your program.

What is my residency status?

Domestic Student (Ontario Resident)

You may be considered a domestic student if you:

• Have lived in Ontario for more than 12 months, and
• Are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

International Student

You may be considered an international student if you:

• Are living in Canada primarily for educational purposes, and
• Do not have permanent resident status in Canada.

How is financial need assessed?

Some awards and bursaries consider financial need as part of the eligibility criteria. Financial need is evaluated based on a combination of your available resources and expected expenses.

Resources We Consider

• Family income
• Personal income
• Number of dependents in the family
• Personal savings and other financial assets
• Government student assistance assessments and funding

Expenses We Consider

• Tuition, books, and program-related supplies
• Rent, utilities, and household expenses
• Food
• Transportation (such as TTC, GO Transit, parking, and other travel costs)
• Personal expenses, including clothing and medical costs
• Child care expenses
• Other necessary living expenses

There are many awards available, most awards are for registered full-time students. To view a detailed list of awards by faculty please visit the Types of Awards section.

Students can apply on STU-VIEW by completing the student profile. Visit How to Apply for Awards and Scholarships for more information. Additional awards applications may be available for those who meet minimum eligibility criteria.

Any funds awarded are applied to any outstanding tuition on your student account. The balance (if any) will be provided in the form of an e-transfer.

You will receive an email to your George Brown Polytechnic email account on how to accept the e-transfer of these funds. Please follow the instructions listed in the email transfer to deposit your funding to your Canadian bank account. You will be prompted within the email transfer to sign into your bank account to deposit the funding. There will be a refund security code that you will have to access through STU-VIEW to deposit your funding. Once you have received the email transfer, this code will be available (instructions to retrieve the refund security code will be in the email transfer). We highly recommend that you copy and paste the refund security code into the email transfer when you go to deposit your funding.

If you have any issues accessing your funds, please contact StudentRefund@georgebrown.ca

Most awards are paid out during the Winter semester. Some awards are available in the Fall semester, while a smaller number are offered in the Spring semester.

The review and selection process varies for each award, so timelines may differ. If you are selected to receive an award, the funding will first be applied to any outstanding balance on your student account.

You can check the status of your application at any time through STU-VIEW.

Yes. You should complete an awards application each academic year to be considered for the awards and scholarships available for that year.

George Brown Polytechnic requires award recipients to provide their SIN or ITN for T4A reporting purposes as mandated by the Ontario government.

Yes. View awards available for international students.

If you received an award, scholarship or bursary that exceeding $500 combined in the previous calendar you will have a T4A issued to you.

Please contact the Financial Aid office directly at awards@georgebrown.ca

Access your T4A online through STU-VIEW.  For an instruction guide, please visit How to Access your T4A Online.