Government of Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) in Canada

Applications for the 2027 Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) are now open for eligible candidates.

The Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship (AGES) recognizes outstanding academic achievement of students pursuing graduate studies in Alberta.

Funded by the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Heritage Scholarship Fund, it was established to incentivize the best and the brightest students, including international students, to study in Alberta.

To be eligible, students must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada,  or a protected person within the meaning of subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), or an International student with a study permit

  • Students must ensure their Citizenship status is updated in their Bear Tracks account by their faculty’s internal nomination deadline. Students must consult with their faculty for their internal deadline and their internal application process.

Funded by the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Heritage Scholarship Fund, the value of the scholarship at the University of Alberta is $12,000 and is paid out to recipients as a one-time payment.

A complete application includes:

1. Up to date unofficial U of A Transcript (produced from Beartracks) showing current Fall 2026 term (or Winter 2027 for January admitted students) full time registration (courses/thesis in progress).
   

   • Students are not to upload transcripts from other institutions; only a current U of A transcript is required. Students who are newly admitted for Winter 2027 term and are not yet registered (and have no previous U of A degrees/course work), upload a blank unofficial U of A transcript produced from Beartracks.

2. CV (maximum 5 pages in length)

3. Research Proposal (thesis-based students), or Explanation of Courses and End Goals or Final Project-Capstone Project (course-based students) - maximum 1 page in length (and one additional page for references only, if applicable).

4. Completed AGES Student Declaration form

5. Academic Letter of Reference 

   • The letter of reference is an online reference/authorization form sent through the GSMS Awards Portal. Students are to follow the instructions on how to Apply for Awards under Students GSMS Resources located under Award Resources webpage. Please note:

6. The online request link will no longer work after the deadline set by the student

   • Students are to give enough time for their referees to submit the online request form via the GSMS Awards Portal

7. Students are to follow up with their referees regularly as needed

8. Do NOT have GSMS open in multiple windows

9. The online reference is NOT a letter – letters submitted to GPS in lieu of the GSMS online reference/authorization form will not be accepted

10. Proof of Indigenous ancestry is required.

Students must apply directly to GPS by completing the online application in the GSMS Awards Portal. Nomination by their home faculty is not required for the AGES-Indigenous; however, students may be nominated by their faculty for the AGES. Students who are successful in both AGES and AGES-Indigenous will be granted the AGES-Indigenous only.

• 1

  Search for "Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship Indigenous" in the GSMS Awards Portal to access the online application and for detailed instructions. It is students' responsibility to ensure their application is complete before submitting it in GSMS.

• 2

  Students must click "Submit" for GPS to access their application. Students are to follow the instructions on how to Apply for Awards under Students GSMS Resources located under the Award Resources webpage.

• 3

  Successfully submitted applications will indicate the status of "GPS Review". Applications that are in the status of Application in Progress indicate that the application is NOT yet submitted to GPS.

• 4

  It is the student's responsibility to ensure that their application package is complete in every respect before submitting to GPS via the GSMS Awards portal.