Scholarships in Canada 2027–28: Complete Guide for Indian Students

The Master application guide for Indian students for admission to Canada in 2027-28, containing verified scholarships, funding amounts, eligibility, and the application process.

There are several types of Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 offered by universities, provincial scholarships and different scholarship avenues for research. The eligibility of each scholarship is different and varies based on the citizenship, type of the scholarship and its application status. Indian Master's candidates should thus narrow down the choices of the awards that allow international students and verify if the award actually covers Indian Masters.

Among Canada scholarships Indian students 2027, McGill University’s McCall MacBain Scholarship is the clearest full-funding option verified for the 2027 cohort. UBC and Waterloo offer valuable international graduate awards, while the University of Alberta currently publishes a substantial graduate entrance scholarship.

But there are a few popular Canadian awards which have either local eligibility or are domestic-only, making them unsuitable for many Indian applicants.

Overview: Canada Scholarships Indian Students 2027

The key mistake when researching Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 is describing every funding opportunity as “fully funded”. A tuition award, fellowship, assistantship and full scholarship are financially different.

Which Scholarship Should You Target?

This profile-first approach makes Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 more useful than a generic “top scholarships in Canada” list.

1. McCall MacBain Scholarship at McGill University

It is high time that McCall MacBain appears in the spotlight among students who are pursuing fully funded scholarships in Canada.

The 2027 cohort opened on 1 June 2026. Foreigners who are not in Canada or the United States must file their applications by 19 August 2026.

The scholarship includes:

• full tuition and fees
• CAD 2,300 per month during academic terms
• summer funding options
• a relocation grant where applicable

McGill independently confirms these benefits for its 2027 scholarship cycle.

That makes McCall MacBain one of the most competitive Canada scholarships Indian students 2027.

Check the official McCall MacBain Scholarship details

Students should also review McGill’s broader Master’s funding opportunities rather than assuming one scholarship is their only route.

2. UBC International Tuition Award

The UBC International Tuition Award is one of the clearer Canada university scholarships for international students.

The award is now offering a value of up to CAD 3,200 annually to eligible international graduate students. It tends to be applicable to full-time students in eligible research-based graduate programmes at UBC in Vancouver.

Eligible students are automatically eligible, and thus no special scholarship application is usually required.

In the case of Canada scholarships for Indian students in 2027, that is handy, but the scholarship should be grouped appropriately: it is not a full-service scholarship, but a partial one, or a partial tuition scholarship.

The current information provided by UBC is that the next award will probably be in December 2026; hence, students must not consider a conjectural date definitive but wait until the final confirmed date.

Check the UBC International Tuition Award

3. UBC Affiliated Fellowships and Graduate Support

UBC Affiliated Fellowships currently range from CAD 175 to CAD 16,000 and include eligible international students.

Applicants normally need first-class academic standing in each of the previous two years of full-time study. For UBC coursework, first-class standing means 80% or higher.

UBC’s central graduate-award directory currently lists 1 December 2026 before 5:00 pm PT for the Affiliated Fellowships competition.

Review UBC Affiliated Fellowships eligibility

Check UBC’s current graduate award directory

Some professional or coursework-heavy programmes are excluded. Therefore, Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 must be checked against the exact Master’s programme, not just the university.

UBC also provides the Graduate Support Initiative that may cover the entrance scholarships, tuition prizes, packages of multi-year funding and scholarship top-ups.

4. Waterloo International Master’s Award of Excellence

The International Master Award of Excellence, or IMAE, is now in place in Waterloo and offers:

CAD 2,500 per term × maximum 5 terms = CAD 12,500 maximum.

Eligible international students are nominated by their faculties, and academic excellence, as evidenced by the graduate admission application, is a main factor in selection.

This matters when evaluating Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 because there may not be a normal standalone scholarship application. Your university admission application itself can influence funding consideration.

Read Waterloo’s international graduate funding guidance

See Waterloo Engineering’s IMAE confirmation

5. Waterloo Research Funding Is Not One Scholarship

Research funding should not be confused with a single scholarship.

Waterloo currently recommends a minimum of CAD 12,000 in first-year funding for eligible full-time research Master’s students.

That support may combine:

• research assistantships
• teaching assistantships
• scholarships
• graduate research studentships
• supervisor or departmental funding

Hence, when looking at the comparison between Canada scholarships for Indian students in 2027, do not refer to the whole Waterloo package of funding as a CAD 12,000 scholarship.

Scholarship value and total university funding are different figures.

6. University of Alberta Graduate Entrance Scholarship

The University of Alberta’s current Graduate Entrance Scholarship provides Master’s recipients with a CAD 17,500 stipend.

International students currently receive an additional CAD 10,000 toward tuition and fees.

Current eligibility includes:

• new graduate admission
• full-time registration
• admission GPA of at least 3.7
• departmental nomination
• course-based or thesis-based Master’s study

The important limitation is timing. The current official page relates to the 2026 competition.

Scholarships in Canada Indian scholarships 2027 Students researching scholarships in Canada should thus keep an eye on this award, but must not think that the figure and criteria will be exactly the same in 2027.

7. Ontario Graduate Scholarship

In the case of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship at the University of Toronto, it is equivalent to CAD 5,000 per term.

This means:

• CAD 10,000 = two sessions 
• CAD 15,000 = three sessions 

For Canada scholarships Indian students 2027, this makes OGS a conditional opportunity rather than a universal pre-arrival scholarship.

Review the University of Toronto OGS rules

Applicants should separately read the university’s application instructions before assuming eligibility.

8. Scholarships Indian Students Should Exclude or Treat Carefully

Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s

CGRS-M is worth CAD 27,000 for one year, and the University of Toronto currently lists a 1 December 2026 application deadline.

However, its required legal status is domestic.

A standard Indian applicant applying as an international student should therefore not include CGRS-M in a Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 funding plan.

Check CGRS-M eligibility at the University of Toronto

Mackenzie King Memorial Scholarship

This award can also be misleading for first-time Indian applicants because the official eligibility route requires applicants to be graduates of a Canadian university.

Therefore, an applicant moving directly from an Indian Bachelor’s degree to a first Canadian Master’s would normally not qualify.

Government of Canada Scholarships

The official EduCanada portal is an important research tool for Canada scholarships Indian students 2027, but “international scholarship” does not automatically mean funding for an entire Master’s degree.

EduCanada includes opportunities covering short-term study, research and exchange programmes.

For example, the Study in Canada Scholarships programme is designed for short-term exchanges, not complete Canadian Master’s degrees.

Search official Canadian scholarships through EduCanada

9. Partial Funding vs Fully Funded

For Canada scholarships Indian students 2027, this terminology matters. A CAD 12,500 partial award is useful, but it is not financially equivalent to full tuition plus living support.

Indian students who want more background on scholarship selection can read Gateway EduConnect’s guide to scholarships for studying abroad from India and its guide to merit-based scholarships for studying abroad.

10. Programme Type Can Change Your Funding Chances

Research-oriented Master’s programmes generally provide more funding routes than coursework-only degrees.

Before adding an award to your Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 shortlist, ask:

• Is my programme thesis-based or coursework-based?
• Does it contain a substantial research component?
• Is supervisor funding available?
• Is departmental minimum funding provided?
• Are professional Master’s programmes excluded?

McGill, for example, distinguishes thesis and non-thesis Master’s funding expectations.

Students planning a postgraduate application can also review Gateway EduConnect’s study abroad after graduation guide for the wider Master’s application process.

11. Can Scholarships Count Toward Canada Proof of Funds?

Yes. IRCC lists proof of a scholarship as one form of acceptable evidence of financial support.

By 1 September 2026, to apply, a student outside Quebec must have CAD 23,448 after one year of living costs in a single year, but not including tuition or transportation.

In this way, where a scholarship is required to cover tuition only, the applicant will be required to prove that he or she has enough funds to meet the living expenses and transportation expenses not included in it.

Computing: When students are evaluating Canada scholarships for Indian students in 2027, students are to compute:

Tuition + living expenses + transportation - sure scholarship/funding = amount to be left to fund.

Check current IRCC proof-of-funds requirements

For wider budgeting, compare Gateway EduConnect’s cost of studying in Canada guide and its Canada study permit guide.

If scholarships leave a funding gap, students can explore Gateway EduConnect’s education-loan service through Foreign Edu Loans.

12. How to Apply for Canada Scholarships Indian Students 2027

Step 1: Shortlist the programme first

Research, thesis, professional and coursework Master’s programmes can have different funding rules.

Step 2: Check Indian/international eligibility.

Official university pages and official EduCanada scholarship system.

Step 3: Identify how selection happens

There are three common routes:

• Separate application: McCall MacBain
• Automatic consideration: UBC International Tuition Award
• University nomination: Waterloo IMAE and Alberta’s current entrance scholarship

Step 4: Comparison of admission and scholarship deadlines.

The dates of scholarship activities may be earlier than university admission, whose dates may be later.

Step 5: Identify a match to the selection criteria of the application.

Academic fellowships can be very grade- and research-oriented. Leadership and community involvement are among the other assessments by McCall MacBain.

Step 6: Find your net funding gap.

It is not a good idea to count an award without ensuring that one is eligible and that it is valuable.

Step 7: Recheck the official page before submitting

For Canada scholarships Indian students 2027, never carry a previous cycle’s deadline, value or eligibility rule into 2027 without confirmation.

Students who need the wider application sequence can use Gateway EduConnect’s step-by-step study abroad application guide.

Common Scholarship Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these errors while shortlisting Canada scholarships Indian students 2027:

• assuming every international scholarship accepts Indian applicants
• calling partial tuition support “fully funded”
• ignoring research versus coursework restrictions
• copying last year’s deadline
• confusing assistantships with scholarship money
• including unconfirmed funding in the visa budget
• applying for domestic-only awards under standard international status

FAQs

Which is one of the strongest fully funded scholarships for Indian Master’s students?

Among Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 verified here, McCall MacBain is the clearest full-funding option. It covers full tuition and fees plus CAD 2,300 per month during academic terms.

Can Indian students get UBC scholarships?

Yes. Awards available to eligible international students include the International Tuition Award and Affiliated Fellowships depending on the requirement of the programmes.

Is Waterloo IMAE fully funded?

No. It offers CAD 2,500 per term of a maximum of five terms.

Can Indian international students apply for CGRS-M?

Not under standard international status. The current 2027–28 U of T listing requires domestic legal status.

Can scholarships be used for Canada study-permit proof of funds?

Yes. IRCC does not reject scholarship evidence, though students have to demonstrate adequate funds to cover expenses that the scholarship does not.

Conclusion

Canada scholarships Indian students 2027 are not necessarily those that have the biggest headlines. The right award should be aligned to your citizenship, type of programme, academic profile and status of applications.

McCall MacBain is a confirmed fully funded course. UBC provides convenient tuition allowances and fellowships, Waterloo integrates scholarships with general research grants, and Alberta has a large present entrant scholarship which ought to be reviewed once its 2027 cycle is released.

Find all the Build Every Canada scholarships for Indian students 2027 shortlist available officially, cut those awards which do not reflect your status or programme, and only estimate the remaining cost when you are certain of the funds.

That strategy transforms scholarship research into a feasible monetary roadmap, not another to-do list.

Get a Free Profile Evaluation with Gateway EduConnect and start planning your 2027–28 Canada application with a clearer scholarship strategy.

Author Bio

Abhinav Jain - Founder, Gateway Educonnect and Director.

B.Tech, MBA, AI and Global Education Specialist.

More than 15 years of professional experience in leading students along international routes based on politics and innovation.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavedysor/