Please apply through the home department of your supervisor. Deadlines for application are set by each department and are typically early- to mid-February.
The (USRA) program supports more than 3,000 students annually and is administered jointly by Canada’s three research granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). USRAs are meant to nurture interest and fully develop the potential for a research career in the health, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences or humanities fields. They are also meant to encourage graduate studies in these fields. These awards provide financial support through the host institution to gain research work experience that complements studies in an academic setting.
USRA 2026: Compensation and funding structure
USRA award recipients are expected to work full-time (35 hours per week) for 16 consecutive weeks (May 1 to August 31). Furthermore, provincial minimum wage requirements must be adhered to. The current minimum wage is $17.60 per hour which became effective October 1, 2025. The Vice-Principal Research and Innovation (VPRI) will provide an additional top-up to each award to increase the salary rate to $18.60 per hour, an additional $560.00 per student. This will increase the total award to $10,416.00 per student (excluding vacation pay and mandatory employer payroll deductions).
Please note an additional 4% vacation pay will be applied to the base salary/hourly rate, plus mandatory employer payroll deductions such as CPP, EI, EHT and WSIB, calculated as follows:
$18.60/hour x 35 hours x 16 weeks = $10,416.00 + $416.64 (vacation pay)= $10,832.64 + mandatory employer payroll deductions.
As long as all criteria are met, departments will be reimbursed $6,560.00 ($6,000.00 Tri-Agency award + $560.00 VPRI top-up) in September 2026, per approved student. Departments are responsible for covering the remaining $4,272.64, plus all mandatory employer payroll deductions.
To apply for a USRA, students must meet the following criteria:
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or Protected Person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as of the institutional application deadline.
- Be registered in a bachelor’s degree program at an eligible institution.
- Canadian citizens studying abroad are eligible but must hold the award at a Canadian institution.
- Have a satisfactory cumulative average (typically at least a B; departments may set higher standards).
- Not be enrolled in an undergraduate professional health degree (e.g., MD, DDS, BScN) except when applying for CIHR USRAs.
- Not be registered, or previously registered, in a graduate program in the same field.
- Not have completed all degree requirements.
- Students may hold a USRA in one of the two terms immediately following completion of their degree requirements.
- Students may hold a Teaching Assistantship during their USRA term if approved by their supervisor, and must make up any hours missed.
- Students from other universities may hold a USRA at 鶹’s, provided transcripts and transcript legends are included.
- USRA projects may be completed remotely where appropriate, and students requesting remote work should not be penalized.
Students must upload a transcript (official or unofficial) before their department submits the List of Submissions to Research Services.
Funding has been allocated by NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC to address historic underfunding of Black and Indigenous student researchers and to help advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in Canada’s research community. CIHR and SSHRC USRAs are currently designated exclusively for .
Indigenous student researchers (for NSERC only)
Institutions may recommend applications from self-identified Indigenous student researchers for USRAs beyond their allocation of awards.
Black student researchers (NSERC)
NSERC provides supplementary allocations for additional awards for Black student researchers.
Please note, the supplementary allocation for Black student researchers is not a limit. There is no limit on the number of Black student researchers that can be offered an award within an institution’s allocation. NSERC expects institutions to use their allocations of awards to support applicants from all underrepresented groups, including Black student researchers.
CIHR and SSHRC USRAs
Award allocations are limited and currently reserved exclusively for Black student researchers. Allocation amounts are based on 鶹’s total CIHR or SSHRC grant funding over a three-year period.
Supervisors:
- Supervisors must be authorized by the University to independently supervise students, including adjunct faculty. An active NSERC grant is no longer required, and supervision during the one-year automatic NSERC grant extension is permitted.
- Supervisors may take on multiple USRA students, provided they can offer adequate support. Co-supervision is allowed, though one primary supervisor must be identified on Form 202.
- If multiple students will work on the same project, a rationale must be included in the “Outline of Proposed Research” section of Form 202.
- Departments may have different internal review processes, so supervisors should follow departmental instructions regarding Form 202 submission. Research Services will forward finalized forms to NSERC after departmental review.
Administrators:
- Department Coordinators cannot see whether a student has self-identified as Black or Indigenous on Form 202; only the Research Services Liaison Officer has access to this information.
- Transcript legends uploaded by students do not need to be removed unless otherwise instructed after Research Services' review. Research Services supplies the institutional transcript legend directly to NSERC.
- Reimbursement to departments for NSERC and VPRI portions of the award will follow existing processes. Research Accounting will communicate payment instructions in April.
Need assistance?
For information regarding internal application dates and processes, please contact your home department and/or the department of the faculty member you wish to work with. Typically, undergraduate research positions are posted in January, but exact dates can vary.
Past participants
- Adam Angelo (Civil Engineering)
- Alex Pettipiece (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Alexandra (Sasha) Offin (Geology)
- Anna O'Flynn (Geography)
- Antoinette Parent (Civil Engineering)
- Arianna Slowley (Biology)
- Austen Lloyd (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Belamie Leger (Chemistry)
- Brendan Ross (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Callum Baxter (Chemical Engineering)
- Carolyn McKenna (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Charlie Ferguson (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Chloe Graham (Chemistry)
- Christian Sacco (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Clarisa Griffin (Biology)
- Daniel Mason (Chemistry)
- Denis Khatnyuk (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Dorsa Tavakoli (Psychology)
- Emma Godbout (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Emma Gong (Biology)
- Ethan Astri (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Ethan Cairns (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Ethan Hsu (Chemistry)
- Ethan Powell (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Gabriella Waite (Mining)
- Gabrielle Garey (Computing)
- Garrett McGrattan (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Gwendolen Hickey (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Haarini Suntharalingam (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Haleigh Lindsay (Civil Engineering)
- Hendrix Gryspeerdt (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Isabella Persad (Psychology)
- Jack Farmilo (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Jack Walker (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Jackson Martin (Mining)
- Jacob Huynh (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Jasper Nie (Computing)
- Jayden Harman (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Jaylen Adamson (Biology)
- Jerry (Chun Yu) Cheng (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Jillian Malherbe (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Johannes Martin (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Josh Rosenfeld (Computing)
- Joshua Bougadis (Medicine)
- Joshua Lefort (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Juno Aiken (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Kate Vanderlaan (Civil Engineering)
- Katherine Bot (Geography)
- Katrina Reimer (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Kian Pouragha (Biology)
- Kian Abbasi (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Komal Azeem (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Lachlan Sandison (Chemical Engineering)
- Lauren Jacobs (Chemistry)
- Leila Salem (Computing)
- Lilly Cybulski (Geology)
- Madison MacNeil (Computing)
- Martina Baserman (Chemistry)
- Max (Tianzi) Hao (Computing)
- Max Housefather (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Maxwell Dollar (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Maxwell Schankula (Chemistry)
- Merin Boyd (Chemical Engineering)
- Michael Ambra (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Miranda Torbay (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Morgan Mumma (Biology)
- Natasha Anderson (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Nathan Harrison (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Ninglee Weng (Smith School of Business)
- Nolan Mol (Chemical Engineering)
- Odiwa Tochukwu (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Olivia Sit (Chemistry)
- Oluwalade Ogunkoya (Medicine)
- Oluwamisimi Oluwole (Computing)
- Qwin Goodwin (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Ruxandra-Ioana Adam (Psychology)
- Ryan Zeltner (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Sage Cole (Civil Engineering)
- Samuel Beylerian (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Samuel Hillen (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Sarena Sandhu (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Severn Lortie (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Seyed Haghshenas (Computing)
- Shannon Harris (Mining)
- Shrika Vejandla (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Sienna Gillie (Biology)
- Stefan Damjanovic (Chemical Engineering)
- Stephanie St-Jean (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Tejiri INIKORI (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Vagish Vaibhav (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Wil Taylor (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- William Copeland (Civil Engineering)
- Xin Yi Chen (Biology)
- Zachary Arbel-Wood (Computing)
- Zahra Simpson-Stairs (UofT) (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Ava Cortiula (Biology)
- Alexandria Beer (Biology)
- Dev Patel (Biology)
- Eve Morrison (Biology)
- Justine Jieam (Biology)
- Samuel Asenuga (Biology)
- Max Tomlinson (Chemical Engineering)
- Martin Larose (Chemical Engineering)
- Sadie Margulis (Chemical Engineering)
- Caitlyn Doench (Chemical Engineering)
- Nolan Mol (Chemical Engineering)
- Haowen Yan (Chemistry)
- Kattie Tan (Chemistry)
- Lucas Wall (Chemistry)
- Jiabei He (Chemistry)
- Parinita Girish (Chemistry)
- Harry Grubsztajn (Chemistry)
- Morley Christie (Chemistry)
- Taylor Battaglia (Chemistry)
- Emily Both (Machel) (Chemistry)
- Ebunoluwa Coker (Chemistry)
- Opeoluwa Coker (Chemistry)
- Joyce (Samuel) Wong (Civil Engineering)
- Chase Morris (Civil Engineering)
- Anika Polk (Civil Engineering)
- Khanyiso Mnkantjo (Civil Engineering)
- Daniela Quiroga Ospina (Civil Engineering)
- Darryl Gladston (Civil Engineering)
- Kathryn Sheppard (Civil Engineering)
- Skyler Gruner (Civil Engineering)
- Arianne Nantel (Computing)
- Emese Elkind (Computing)
- Stuart Logan (Computing)
- Shahbaaz Siddiqui (Computing)
- Roman Rodchenkov (Computing)
- Ryan Walsh (Computing)
- Sophia Liu (Computing)
- Timofey Sanko (Computing)
- Jared Commanda (Computing)
- Garvellia Livert (Computing)
- Grace Odunuga (Computing)
- Heala Rachel Mendelsohn Aviv (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Elizabeth Forest (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Natalie McIntosh (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Zahra Simpson-Stairs (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Charlotte Schankula (Biomedical and Molecular Sciences)
- Lily Jiang (Economics)
- Stuart Fong (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Matthew Tindale (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Krish Patel (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Tyler Herszkowicz (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- William Stewart (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Max Uger (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Lucas Balog (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Daniil Nistribenko (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
- Angus Skinner (Geography)
- Jacob Martin (Geography)
- Ella Sultan (Geology)
- Bo Curtis (Geology)
- Kayla Kokorudz (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Tejiri Inikori (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Catrina Chebae (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Ahmed Mudwi (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Debebe Reweena (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Favour Okoh (Kinesiology and Health Studies)
- Joffre Decore (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Abby Mattina (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Patrick Taylor (Mathematics and Statistics)
- Aiden Duggan (Mining)
- Arshia Azizabadifarahani (Mining)
- Colm Mann (Mining)
- Ella Connop (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Shaan Culliton (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Mia Dong (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Adam Forman (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Thomas Hung (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- William Lenouvel (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Noah Miggiani (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Sabina Siddiqui (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Chao Qian (Ethan) Yu (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Temitayo (Temi) Toogun (Mechanical and Materials Engineering)
- Jack Pinsky (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Qwin Goodwin (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Sean Hughson (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Julia Brachman (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Felix Flande (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Lydia Magurn (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Melanie Phillips (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Riley Breen (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Ryan Ward (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Tochukwu Gregory Odiwa (Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy)
- Ariella Myers (Psychology)
- Juliana Ricciuti (Psychology)
- Dilara Sanli (Psychology)
- Rishab Chakraborty (Smith School of Business)