Every year Canada welcomes thousands of overseas PhD students. Here science, research and development are the most important symbols of this country which leads to global innovation. Canada is a globally renowned country known for its diverse research programs, opportunities, globally ranked universities and excellent research institutions. Canada’s broad attitude and cosmopolitan lifestyle make it an increasingly attractive home-away-from-home for millions of foreign students. It is home to some of North America’s most historic – and globally famous – research universities. They provide exceptional practical training opportunities for the students, which gives them good employment options. More than 5,500 international graduates complete their doctorates every year. There are excellent funding opportunities such as scholarships and fellowships for international students. These are provided by the government and others. The living costs are also low in this country. Other than this you will also get to experience the rich culture and tradition of Canada and explore different places there. A PhD in Canada will allow you to collaborate with prominent specialists and take advantage of cutting-edge technology. Once you’ve completed your PhD, you’ll be eligible for one of the most lucrative post-study work visa programmes in the world.

At Canadian universities, there are several scholarships available for PhD studies. However, depending on the programme, specialisation, and university, the cost of a PhD in Canada ranges from CAD 8,000 to 20,000 each year.

The PhD program structure in Canada differs from one university to another in its cost, time and structure. The PhD that you do will be supervised by a professor who will be your guide for research. But you are required to complete a dissertation and an original research paper which contributes to your field of study. The paper that you have submitted will be marked by examiners who will read through your work and consider whether you deserve a PhD. They will also conduct oral defense where you need to answer the cross questions asked by the examiners about your thesis. After this, you’ll be awarded a PhD degree.

The length of a PhD program is a minimum of three years which includes full-time study and research. But it often takes more than three years to complete a PhD. The maximum duration you can take to complete a PhD in six years. To get into a conventional Canadian PhD programme, you’ll almost always require a Masters degree. Some universities, on the other hand, offer doctoral stream Masters programmes that begin with one or two years of MA or MSc work. These are appropriate for students who have just completed a bachelor’s degree, although they take longer to finish.

There is something called the Cotutelle program where several Canadian universities collaborate with other foreign schools to offer a ‘cotutelle’ (French for ‘co-tutored’) route to a PhD. These programmes require students to spend time at two distinct universities, each of which supervises, examines, and awards the PhD research. A cotutelle is similar to a combined PhD in this regard. A cotutelle agreement, unlike some other joint PhDs, is generally tailored to the student’s thesis rather than long-term cooperation between two (or more) universities. In this respect, a cotutelle might be thought of as a special type of joint PhD.

• First decide on the PhD course you want to pursue in Canada and the University. There are two types of PhD in Canada one is a Structured PhD and the other is an Open PhD. In a Structured PhD, the university will set the outlines of your research. In the Open PhD, you will choose your topic and the outlines of your research should be done by you.
• The minimum requirement for pursuing a PhD degree is a master’s degree related to the topic of your research.
• You need to submit your research online and describe its impact and importance in your proposal which should be within the research guidelines of the university.