We list 7 fully Funded Scholarships Open to Nigerian Students in Canada, with the deadline, study level and eligibility of each one taken from the award's own terms.
Written from the 7 awards on this page — every figure below is counted from what the awards themselves state. 5 min read.
This page collects 7 fully funded scholarships in Canada that are open to Nigerian students. Every award here is labelled fully funded by the body offering it, and every one of the seven is open to Nigerian applicants. That last point matters more than it sounds. None of the seven names Nigeria, and none names any other country or region either. Instead, all seven carry no nationality restriction at all, which is why they sit on a page built for Nigerian students rather than on a general international list.
The awards come from six providers. Five are named universities: the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, York University, McGill University and the University of Waterloo. The sixth is a Canadian institution holding a quota to host Vanier scholars, which is how the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship is administered.
The list is weighted towards the two ends of the academic ladder. Five of the seven awards are open at Bachelors level, and four are open at PhD level. Three are open at Masters level, and two are fellowships. Several awards accept applicants at more than one level, so these counts overlap rather than adding up to seven.
For a Nigerian reader, the Bachelors group is the one that follows WAEC or NECO results and, where a school-leaving certificate is not enough on its own, a year of A-levels or a strong UTME-plus-post-secondary record. The PhD and Masters group is where a B.Sc, HND or M.Sc comes in, and where supervisors and research fit start to carry weight.
All seven are recorded as fully funded. That is the label the awards themselves carry. Beyond that, the brief records that 1 of the 7 names tuition in its own text. The remaining awards do not spell out their components in the material counted here, so this page does not claim what they cover.
Treat "fully funded" as the starting point of your reading, not the end of it. When you open an individual award, look for the sentence that lists what is included: tuition, a stipend, health cover, travel, or a combination. Where an award runs for a set period, that period is stated. Among these seven, one award runs for 3 years, one for 4 years, and one for 3-4 years depending on the selected program. If your programme is longer than the funded window, the difference is yours to plan for.
Yes, on the evidence in the brief. All 7 of the 7 awards are open to Nigerian students, and the reason is consistent across the list: none of them restricts by nationality. Not one award names Nigeria or the Nigerian region, and not one states a nationality restriction that would exclude you. So the question is not whether you are eligible as a Nigerian. The question is whether you meet the academic, language and document requirements each award sets.
Canada is a well-established destination for Nigerian students. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics recorded 12,072 Nigerian students in Canada in 2023, placing Nigeria third among sending countries in that data. That figure is context, not a promise. It tells you the pathways are well trodden and that admissions offices in Canada have seen Nigerian transcripts, WAEC and NECO certificates, and HND records before.
Two requirements stand out in the brief. 3 of the 7 awards ask for letters of recommendation, and 1 asks for a research proposal. Both are the kind of item that stalls Nigerian applicants, not because they are difficult to write but because they depend on other people and on documents you have to request.
Plan the recommendation letters first. Approach your referees early, give them your CV, your transcript and a short note on what you are applying for, and tell them the date you need the letter. For the research proposal, the award that asks for one expects you to say what you intend to study and why that institution is the right place for it, so read the supervisor profiles before you write.
Transcripts and courier costs sit outside the awards. Budget for them. Request your transcript from your Nigerian institution well before the deadline, confirm how many copies you need, and check whether the award wants a sealed copy sent directly or an uploaded scan.
The deadline picture on this page is uneven, and you should read it carefully rather than assume a single closing date. None of the seven awards carries a fixed calendar date in the brief, and none is currently marked as still open. All seven are recorded as undated, meaning the deadline is not stated in a form this page can pin down.
What the individual awards do say is more useful than a date. The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) 2027 is listed as closing before November 2026, with an anticipated 2026-2027 competition cycle. The York University Scholarships 2027 entry points to a February 15, 2026 admission deadline for Fall 2026. The McGill University Scholarships and Fellowships 2026-2027 ties its dates to admission deadlines rather than a separate scholarship deadline. The remaining entries, including the Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship Program 2027, the UBC Four Years Doctoral Fellowship Program (4YF) 2027 and the University of Waterloo Scholarships 2027, direct you to the award details for the date.
The practical reading: for several of these, the scholarship deadline and the admission deadline are the same event. You cannot apply for the funding without applying to the university. Work backwards from the admission date, not the funding date.
The brief records three fields across the list: Arts & Humanities, Engineering, and Natural Sciences, one award each. That is a partial picture rather than a limit. Several of the awards here are open across a university's full range of programmes, and the field tags capture only the awards that name a field explicitly. If your subject is not in those three, open the individual award pages and check the eligible programmes directly.
Seven awards, six providers, one country. The list is small enough to work through properly, and every entry on it is open to you as a Nigerian applicant.
Looking to study in Canada without the burden of tuition fees? Great news for aspiring international students! Canada offers a wide range of fully funded scholarships for Nigerian students in 2026-2027, making world-class education accessible and affordable. These scholarships cover tuition, living expenses, health insurance, and even travel costs—opening doors to top-ranked Canadian universities. Whether you're applying for undergraduate, master's, or PhD programs, this guide lists the best funding opportunities available. Studying in Canada not only provides academic excellence but also a multicultural environment, permanent residency pathways, and globally recognized degrees. Read on to explore the top scholarship programs in Canada for international students and learn how to apply successfully.
*UNESCO Institute for Statistics, inbound internationally mobile students from Nigeria, 2023.
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