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Purpose

The FGS Emergency Bursary provides limited, non-repayable financial assistance to registered graduate students who experience an immediate and unexpected financial crisis during their program.

The bursary is intended to help stabilize a student’s circumstances where an urgent financial shortfall may affect their:

• health or safety;Ìý

• access to food, housing, utilities, medical care, or other essential needs; or 

• ability to remain registered and make reasonable progress in their graduate program. 

The bursary is not intended to replace regular graduate funding, government student assistance, employment income, or a sustainable financial plan which includes contingencies for emergencies. It cannot normally resolve an ongoing or recurring financial deficit. 

Value

Awards are based on the student’s verified unmet emergency need, to a maximum of $1,000.

Typically, a student may receive one FGS Emergency Bursary per academic program.  A second application may be considered where there is a separate, new, and exceptional emergency and at least 12 months have passed since the original bursary was provided.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

1. Be actively registered full time in a Dalhousie master’s or doctoral degree program administered by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. 
2. Be experiencing an immediate financial shortfall connected to an unexpected or exceptional circumstance occurring during their period of study. 
3. Demonstrate that the expense is essential and cannot reasonably be postponed. 
4. Demonstrate that they do not have sufficient immediately available resources to meet the expense. 
5. Explain the steps they have taken, or are taking, to access other reasonable sources of assistance. 

Reasonable sources of assistance

Applicants should explore resources that are reasonably available and appropriate to their circumstances. These may include:

• government student assistance, where eligible;Ìý

• graduate program or departmental support;Ìý

• health and dental insurance;Ìý

• employment or award income;Ìý

• temporary loans;Ìý

• insurance claims;Ìý

• community or government emergency programs; and 

• other relevant university supports such as: Ìý´Ç°ùÌýThe DSU Food Bank

Expenses that may be considered

• emergency rent, temporary accommodation, utility reconnection, or costs associated with an unexpected loss of housing;Ìý

• food and essential personal or household items during an acute financial crisis;Ìý

• uninsured or partially insured medical, dental, vision, mental-health, prescription, or accessibility-related expenses;Ìý

• emergency travel resulting from a death, critical illness, family crisis, displacement, conflict, or natural disaster;Ìý

• safety-related relocation or replacement of essential belongings following fire, theft, assault, intimate-partner violence, or another serious incident;Ìý

• emergency childcare or dependent-care costs resulting from an unforeseen circumstance;Ìý

• essential transportation required for medical care, safety, or continued academic participation, where public transportation is not available. 

• other comparable expenses that are urgent, essential, and directly connected to the student’s well-being or ability to continue their studies. 

Expenses that would normally be ineligible

• tuition or mandatory university fees;Ìý

• repayment of credit cards, personal loans, lines of credit, car loans, or other pre-existing debts;Ìý

• routine living expenses where there has been no recent emergency, disruption, or exceptional circumstance;Ìý

• repair or replacement of laptops, cell phones or other technology. 

• regular vehicle maintenance or repairs typically covered by insurance.

• costs associated with travel to clinical placements or work terms.

• anticipated expenses that should ordinarily have been included in the student’s educational or household budget;Ìý

• regular program, research, fieldwork, conference, thesis, or professional-development costs;Ìý

• non-essential purchases or discretionary travel;Ìý

• fines, penalties, interest charges, or legal costs unrelated to an immediate safety concern;Ìý

• expenses incurred primarily for friends, non-dependent relatives, or pets, except for costs involving a service animal;Ìý

• expenses already fully reimbursed by insurance, another university fund, or another organization; or 

• losses arising solely from fluctuations in currency exchange rates. 

Supporting documentation

Applicants should submit documentation showing the emergency circumstance and the amount requested.

Examples could include a medical invoice, eviction notice, utility notice, police occurrence information, travel itinerary, insurance decision, repair estimate, or correspondence confirming an interruption in funding. Sensitive information must be redacted where possible.

FGS recognizes that students experiencing emergencies may not always be able to obtain conventional documentation. Alternative documentation or a written explanation may be accepted where reasonable. Students should not be required to disclose unnecessary medical, personal, or traumatic details.

Application overview

1. Complete the online  and include any requested supporting documentation along with your application.
2. Applications involving an immediate risk to health, safety, food, or housing may be triaged for urgent review. Applicants will be contacted if additional information is requred. Applications will be acknowledgement and triaged within five business days of submission, urgent decisions within 7-10 business days and ordinary decisions within 15-30 business day.
3. There are no appeals on bursary decisions. If your circumstances change after a bursary application is denied, you may submit a second application.