Vanier Scholarships by the numbers

Which schools got the most $150,000 research awards?

Stephen Harper presented 167 Vanier Graduate Scholarships last week at McMaster University. At $150,000 apiece, they’re the most highly sought after prizes for doctoral students studying in Canada.

Schools may only nominate a set number of students based how much money they have received in the past, which gives established PhD programs a clear advantage.

That said, the distribution of the awards tells us something about where the country’s most highly sought after researchers have chosen to study. Here’s the school-by-school breakdown.

Toronto — 28
British Columbia — 25
McGill — 25
Montréal — 12
Alberta — 11
Ottawa — 9
Calgary — 8
McMaster — 6
Western Ontario — 6
Waterloo — 5
Simon Fraser — 4
Laval — 4
Polytechnique Montréal — 3
Queen’s — 3
Dalhousie — 2
UQAM — 2
York — 2
Guelph — 2
Manitoba — 2
Victoria — 1
Concordia — 1
Sherbrooke — 1
Trent — 1
Regina — 1
Saskatchewan — 1
Saint Mary’s — 1