Canadian natural science graduate stipends lie below the poverty line.

ABSTRACT: Despite the critical role of graduate students in the Canadian research ecosystem, students report high levels of financial stress. As a case study, we collected graduate minimum stipends and tuition data from all university graduate programs in Canada in Ecological Sciences/Biology and Physics, along with cost of living measures for the cities in which they reside. These data are heterogeneous, complex, and in many cases simply not publicly available, making it challenging for potential graduate students to understand what support they should expect. We find Canadian minimum stipends are at values almost exclusively below the poverty threshold. Only two of 140 degree programs offered stipends which meet cost of living measures after subtracting tuition and fees. For graduate programs whic

SUBMITTER: Fraass AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12097606 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature