Applications are now opened for the 2024-2025 Quebec Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE). The Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) is responsible for managing the scholarship program. It was commissioned by the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur du Québec (MEES) which provides the funding.

The Quebec Merit Scholarship Program has a component open to students of all countries and five specific components reserved for students from Brazil, India, Israel, and Wallonia. These specific components arise from agreements concluded between Québec and foreign governments.

The objective of the Quebec Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE) is to support the internationalization of research activities in Québec’s institutions of higher education, to attract the best foreign researchers and students, and to promote abroad Québec universities and College Centres for the Transfer of Technologies (CCTT).

These scholarships are intended for foreign students or researchers from all research sectors (health, humanities and social sciences, arts and letters, natural sciences, and engineering) preselected by a Québec university or the CCTT network as of September 30, 2023. No research sector is given preference.

Program Details

• Host Institutions: Higher Education Institutions in Quebec, Canada.
• Area: Any research area (health, humanities and Social Sciences, arts and letters, Natural Sciences, and engineering etc.).
• Duration: up to 4 years.
• Number of Awards: Not specified.
• Target Group: Open to students and researchers of foreign nationalities.

Quebec Merit Scholarship Program Benefits

In addition to the scholarship, the Quebec Merit Scholarship offers all scholarship recipients an exemption from paying the higher tuition fees required for foreign students and the medical insurance coverage offered by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).

• Master’s research scholarship (VM) : $20,000 a year. The maximum amount that can be awarded is 6 instalments (6 semesters) totaling $40,000.
• Doctoral research scholarships (V1, 1B, 1I, 1IS, 1W) : $25,000 a year. The maximum amount that can be awarded is 9 instalments (9 semesters) totaling $75,000. It is also possible to obtain an extension of up to 12 months.
• Postdoctoral scholarships (V2, 2B, 2I) : $35,000 for one year (cannot be renewed).
• Short-term research or professional development scholarships (V3, 3B, 3I, 3IS, 3W) : $3,000 a month for a period of up to four months. The maximum amount that can be awarded is 4 instalments (4 months) totaling $12,000.

Types and Features of the scholarships

This funding program has different types of scholarships with three components as shown below:

All-countries scholarships

• Master’s research scholarships (VM)
• Doctoral research scholarships (V1)
• Postdoctoral scholarships (V2)
• Short-term research or professional development scholarships (V3);

Québec-Brazil scholarships

• Québec-Brazil Doctoral research scholarships (1B)
• Québec-Brazil Postdoctoral scholarships (2B)
• Québec-Brazil Short-term research or professional development scholarships (3B);

Québec-India scholarships

• Québec-India Doctoral research scholarships (1I)
• Québec-India Postdoctoral scholarships (2I)
• Québec-India Short-term research or professional development scholarships (3I);

Québec-Israel scholarships

• Québec-Israel Doctoral research scholarships (1IS);
• Québec-Israel Short-term research or professional development scholarships (3IS);

Québec-Wallonia scholarships

• Québec-Wallonia Doctoral research scholarships (1W)
• Québec-Wallonia Short-term research or professional development scholarships (3W).

Quebec Merit Scholarship Program Eligibility

All candidates willing to apply for this government scholarship must satisfy the following criteria:

1. meet all eligibility conditions at the closing date of the competition.
2. have been preselected by a university or Synchronex (a CCTT).
3. Cannot have already received a Merit Scholarship for Foreign Students from MEES, FRQNT or the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC).
4. Can’t be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.
5. Cannot have applied for permanent resident status under Canadian immigration law.
6. Québec-Wallonia scholarship candidates must have previously studied in a French-language university-level institution in Belgium at the time they are awarded their scholarship.

Master’s research component (VM)

Master’s research scholarships are intended for students who wish to undertake or continue a master’s research program.

• To be considered a research program, a master’s program must lead to the writing of a thesis (note that an essay, research report, dissertation or paper are not accepted).
• Professional master’s programs are not eligible.
• Candidates are eligible for master’s research scholarships for the first six semesters of their master’s studies.
• To apply, candidates must have been enrolled in a master’s program for up to three full-time semesters (1 year) or less before May 1, 2024.
• Semesters already completed in a master’s program (or equivalent) at the time the scholarship takes effect are subtracted from the funding period.

Doctoral candidates (V1, 1B, 1I, 1IS, 1W)

• Candidates are eligible for doctoral merit program scholarships for the first nine semesters of their doctoral studies. All doctoral semesters, funded or unfunded, completed before the scholarship takes effect, are subtracted from the eligibility period.
• A candidate admitted into a doctoral program from a bachelor’s program and one who fast-tracks into a doctoral program without writing a thesis must apply to the PhD scholarships competition to obtain the scholarship during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th years of his/her graduate studies (semesters 7th to 15th).
• In this case, candidates can first apply to the Master’s research component (VM) in order to obtain a scholarship during the first six semesters of their doctoral studies.

Postdoctoral candidates (V2, 2B, 2I)

• Postdoctoral scholarships are intended for researchers who have obtained their degree no more than two years before the deadline of the competition or who submitted their dissertation by January 15, 2025.
• Postdoctoral research must be conducted in an institution other than the one that granted the PhD degree.
• A candidate’s doctoral supervisors and co-supervisors may not act as their postdoctoral supervisor, even if they have changed institutions.
• The duration of this scholarship is 12 months and not renewable.

Short-term research or professional development candidates (V3, 3B, 3I, 3IS, 3W)

• Short-term research or professional development scholarships are intended for technical and university students (option A) or researchers who have completed a doctorate no more than five years before the deadline for the competition (option B).
• The short-term research or professional development must be conducted in an institution other than the one at which the student was enrolled when he or she applied.
• The duration of this scholarship is four months. The scholarship is not renewable.

Similar opportunities

1. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS);
2. Université de Montréal International Student Scholarship;
3. Lester B. Pearson scholarship for international students to study in Canada.

How to Apply for the Quebec Merit Scholarship?

These scholarships to study in North America are intended for foreign students or researchers from all research sectors preselected by a Québec university or the CCTT network, who wish to begin or continue studies or research activities in Québec.

Applicants must apply to nominating bodies, who will then nominate them. The FRQNT will then contact all preselected candidates to complete an electronic form, to which the required documents will be attached. Documents submitted in a language other than French or English must be accompanied by a translation of the original. The form may be completed in French or English. Candidates who apply in English must provide a French title for their project. Results will be announced at the end of April 2024.

The deadline to submit to FRQNT the preselected candidates by responsible bodies (Québec university or the CCTT network) is September 30, 2023 4 PM. The deadline to submit application to FRQNT by preselected candidates is November 1, 2023. For more details on the Quebec Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE), please visit the official page. To be the first to see latest opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.