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The National Scholarship program is open only to current Canadian high school students with no post-secondary studies. Students need to apply for the National Scholarship during the same year that they were nominated for the Book Award. If you received the Book Award last year and you are currently studying at U of T (or at another post-secondary institution) or you are currently on a gap year, it is too late to apply for the National Scholarship. National Scholarship applicants must currently be in their final year of high school (or first-year CEPEP) so that they are considered alongside their cohort.
How to apply / requirements: Eligible students interested in applying for our scholarship program must first be nominated by their current secondary school through our online nomination process. Students who are unable to secure a nomination from their current secondary school via our online process cannot be considered for the competition, regardless of circumstance.
Eligible students interested in applying for the National Scholarship program must first be nominated by their current secondary school for the National Book Award. Each secondary school across Canada is invited to nominate one student in their final year of secondary school (or first-year CEGEP). Nominees will receive instructions on how to apply for the National Scholarship, once their school submits the nomination. We recommend asking your Guidance Counsellor about the Book Award nomination process at your school. Students who are unable to secure a nomination from their current secondary school cannot be considered for the competition, regardless of circumstance.
The U of T National Book Award eligibility criteria are as follows:
The U of T National Scholarship eligibility criteria are as follows:
The eligibility criteria for the National Scholarship are the same as above, with the additional requirements of being nominated by their school for the Book Award and intending to study at U of T the following year (or intending to take a gap year before studying at U of T).
What is covered/coverage:
The Book Award is a non-monetary award (i.e., it is an actual book). All Book Award nominees receive the book. A Book Award nomination also grants nominees exclusive access to apply for the National Scholarship (which is a monetary award).
The National Scholarship covers tuition, incidental and residence fees for up to four years of study at U of T.
Graduate/Masters/PhD:
The National Scholarship program is open only to current Canadian high school students with no post-secondary studies. If you would like to study at the University of Toronto in a graduate or post-graduate program, we recommend you visit our School of Graduate Studies website to research information about what programs are offered and what funding may be available. Their website is located at www.sgs.utoronto.ca. Contact for the graduate departments can also be found on the aforementioned website.
Citizenship:
The National Book Award and Scholarship program is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons currently studying at a Canadian secondary school.
However, secondary school applicants will be considered for our entrance scholarships if they apply to U of T. No separate application is required as they are merit-based. You can find out more at https://future.utoronto.ca/finances/awards/.
Canadian studying abroad?
In addition, domestic students attending secondary school abroad may be eligible for domestic tuition fees. More information about fees can be found at https://future.utoronto.ca/finances/fees/
Currently on Gap Year
National Scholarship applicants must currently be in their final year of high school (or first-year CEPEP) so that they are considered alongside their cohort. The National Scholarship application is open to students who have been nominated by their secondary school. This means that they must be a secondary school student at the time of nomination. Applicants must be intending to begin university study the following academic year (or intending to take a gap year). Students need to apply for the National Scholarship during the same year that they were nominated for the Book Award.
Planning to Take a Gap Year Next Year
If this is your final year of high school (or first-year CEGEP) and you will be taking a year off (i.e., not attending a post-secondary institution or year-two CEGEP) you should apply for the National Scholarship (and for U of T admission) this year.
Once you are admitted, you may submit a request to defer your university admission and scholarship offer for one year, provided you will not be studying at another post-secondary institution during that time. Further information regarding admission deferrals can be found at https://future.utoronto.ca/apply/applying/#defer.
Application Form FAQ's
In order to apply for the National Scholarship, you must first be nominated by your school for a National Book Award. The email address that you enter on the login page must match the email address to which the invitation to apply was sent. It must also match the email that you used to create an account.
Yes. NEW FOR 2025 you must apply for admission to U of T by October 17, 2025 in order to access the National Scholarship application.
The objective section should include your goals for post-secondary study. It should include academic objectives and how these are appropriate to your long-range goals (i.e., career goals).
The all-course average that you enter on your application should include academic courses only. This means courses that can be considered for university admission– e.g., for students following the Ontario curriculum, this would be U/M level courses. Further information regarding courses that can be used for admission purposes can be found at https://future.utoronto.ca/apply/requirements/canadian-high-school/.
Please include grade-11 and grade-12 level courses taken in grades 10 and 9. You must include all grade 11 and 12 level courses, regardless of the year they were taken.
Transcript Section:
Acceptable file types include png, jpg, gif, tif, pdf. The maximum allowable size is 2MBytes. If your file is too large, try scanning your transcript in grayscale and in lower quality, while ensuring that it is still legible. If you require help with scanning it to a smaller size, perhaps your guidance department or school library will be able to help.
Note that the application does not save uploads. Once you log out, the uploaded document disappears. This means that you will have to upload your transcript just before selecting the “submit” icon. You will not be able to view the uploaded transcript after submitting your application. However, the message “transcript received” will appear in the transcript section. The system will not allow you to submit your application without having uploaded a document. Once you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email.
Unfortunately, we do not accept course counselling summaries. You will need to request an official transcript from your school and then load a scanned copy of it to your application. Acceptable file types include png, jpg, gif, tif, pdf. The maximum allowable size is 2MBytes.
Fields containing errors should be indicated in red. If these fields aren't highlighted, we recommend trying to submit your application in a difference browser (since, for example, fields containing errors are not always identifiable in Chrome). Try using Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc. Note that you will need to reload your transcript each time that you attempt to submit your application (since the uploaded document does not save). Acceptable file types for your uploaded transcript include png, jpg, gif, tif, pdf. Maximum allowable size is 2MB. Once you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email.
How many students can I nominate for the Book Award?
Each secondary school across Canada is invited to nominate one student in their final year of secondary school (or first-year CEGEP). We encourage schools to nominate their top student who is not only high-achieving but well-rounded, creative and passionate about learning.
What is the Book Award eligibility criteria?
What is the National Award eligibility criteria?
The eligibility criteria for the National Scholarship are the same as for the Book Award, with the additional requirements of being nominated by their school for the Book Award and intending to study at U of T the following year (or intending to take a gap year before studying at U of T).
What is the difference between the Book Award eligibility criteria and the National Scholarship eligibility criteria?
Does our Book Award nominee need to attend U of T?
All Book Award nominees receive the Book Award regardless of which post-secondary institution they plan on attending, as it is a non-monetary award (i.e., it is an actual book). A Book Award nomination also grants nominees exclusive access to apply to the National Scholarship program (which is a monetary award). This means that, at most, there will be one National Scholarship applicant per school and one Book Award nominee per school (and it will be the same single student). If your Book Award nominee doesn’t plan on attending U of T, then they do not need to submit a National Scholarship application. This means that your school would have one Book Award nominee and no National Scholarship applicant. If your nominee does plan on attending U of T, then we encourage them to apply for the National Scholarship. The National Scholarship covers tuition, incidental and residence fees for up to four years of study at U of T.
How to apply for the scholarship?
Eligible students interested in applying for the National Scholarship program must first be nominated by their current secondary school for the National Book Award. Nominees will receive instructions on how to apply for the National Scholarship, once their school submits the nomination. Students who are unable to secure a nomination from their current secondary school cannot be considered for the competition, regardless of circumstance.
Our school has participated in previous years but didn’t receive the link.
Whomever was entered as the school representative on the last nomination form will receive the nomination link the following September.
Does our nominee need to apply for admission before applying for the scholarship?
Yes. NEW FOR 2025 students must apply for admission to U of T by October 17, 2025 in order to access the National Scholarship application.
Does our nominee need a reference letter?
If your Book Award nominee plans on applying for the National Scholarship, they will need to arrange for a letter of reference to complete their scholarship application. Our experience shows that it is normally someone within the school who is best suited to write a reference letter. The applicant will be prompted to enter the teacher’s institutional email address on the application form and the reference request will be emailed to the teacher once the student submits the application.
How can we help our nominee prepare their application?