Trent University scholarships for international students come in two layers. Every international undergraduate applicant with a final high school average of 80% or more is considered automatically for a renewable entrance scholarship of CAD 2,500 to 5,500 a year. On top of that, you can apply for a Prestigious Scholarship worth up to CAD 15,000 a year, renewable to CAD 60,000 over a four-year degree.
None of this is a full ride. Trent estimates the 2027/28 cost for an international undergraduate at CAD 57,710 to 66,700 for the eight-month academic year, so even the top combination leaves most of the bill to you. The Prestigious Scholarship application for 2027 entry opens on 1 November 2026 and closes on 15 February 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
Trent University scholarships for international students at a glance
| Award | Value (CAD) | How you get it | Renewable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| International Renewable Entrance Scholarship | 2,500 to 5,500 a year (10,000 to 22,000 over 4 years) | Automatic with your admission application | Yes, with an 80% average on a full course load |
| International Prestigious Scholarships and Awards | Up to 15,000 a year (up to 60,000 over 4 years) | One application in the Trent Applicant Portal | Yes |
| Moore Family International Scholarship | Up to 12,000 a year (up to 48,000) | Same Prestigious application; three students from outside North America | Yes |
| Justin Chiu International Scholarship | Up to 15,000 a year (up to 60,000) | Same Prestigious application; entering students from Asia | Yes |
| Daniel Powell Scholarship | Not published | Same Prestigious application; Latin American students | Yes |
| IB Student Award | Up to 1,000 | One IB Diploma student with the highest admission average | No, one time |
The entrance scholarship and a Prestigious award can be held together. That stacking is how a student reaches the CAD 20,500 a year figure in the quick facts above: CAD 5,500 for a 95% average plus the CAD 15,000 Prestigious maximum.
Automatic entrance scholarships by high school average
Trent converts your final high school average into a Canadian percentage and places you in a tier. You do not fill in a form for this award. It is credited to your Applicant Portal account near the start of your first term.
| Final average (Canadian equivalent) | Per year (CAD) | Over 4 years (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| 95% to 100% | 5,500 | 22,000 |
| 90% to 94.9% | 4,500 | 18,000 |
| 85% to 89.9% | 3,500 | 14,000 |
| 80% to 84.9% | 2,500 | 10,000 |
To qualify you must pay international fees, hold a Canadian study permit, apply to an undergraduate degree (postgraduate certificates and graduate programmes are excluded), meet the admission and English rules, and register and pay for your first-year fall and winter courses. After first year the award continues as an in-course scholarship: you reapply each year and keep at least an 80% average on a full course load.
Canadian students see a different table on Trent’s main entrance scholarship page, including a full first-year tuition award at 95%. Those figures do not apply to international applicants, and some scholarship sites mix the two up.
Trent Prestigious Scholarships: who should apply
Prestigious Scholarships go to students with outstanding grades, community service, leadership potential and some financial need. They pay toward tuition and mandatory ancillary fees, up to CAD 15,000 per academic year. One application covers every named award you are eligible for, so you do not apply separately for the Moore Family or Justin Chiu awards.
- You need the same base eligibility as the entrance scholarship, including a final average of 80% or higher.
- You must start in May/June or September. Students who start in January are not eligible for any Prestigious award.
- Applications open on 1 November and close on 15 February each year. Trent says every application received by the deadline is assessed equally, so applying in November gives no ranking advantage.
- The money is posted to your account one week after classes start, in two halves: fall and winter for a September or summer start.
A word on older figures. Trent’s 2026 intake page described Global Citizen, Tuition Levy, IB Global Citizen and Trent-UWC awards worth up to CAD 40,000 a year, and many blogs still quote CAD 24,000 a year for them. The current page for 2027 starts caps Prestigious funding at CAD 15,000 a year and does not list those award names. I would plan on the CAD 15,000 ceiling.
Deadline check (24 October 2026)
For September 2027, the Prestigious application runs from 1 November 2026 to 15 February 2027, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time (04:59 GMT on 16 February).
What a year at Trent costs in 2027/28
These are Trent’s own estimates for an international undergraduate in a general programme, covering September to April.
| Item | Estimate (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Tuition (general programmes) | 37,410 |
| Ancillary fees | 3,420 |
| Books and supplies | 1,500 to 3,000 |
| Housing (upper figure is residence) | 9,280 to 13,300 |
| Food (upper figure is residence meal plan) | 4,600 to 6,570 |
| Personal | 1,500 to 3,000 |
| Total | 57,710 to 66,700 |
Take a student with a 90% average who wins a CAD 10,000 Prestigious award. That is CAD 14,500 a year in scholarships against at least CAD 57,710 in costs, leaving about CAD 43,000 to cover each year. If you need full funding for an undergraduate degree in Canada, look at the University of Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Scholarship, which pays tuition, books, fees and residence for four years. It works by school nomination, and nominations for 2027 have closed.
Admission deadlines and how to apply to Trent
International students apply through the Trent Applicant Portal if Trent is their only Ontario choice, or through the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) if they are applying to several Ontario universities.
| Start term | Applications open | Deadline | Prestigious award possible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| September (fall) | 16 September | 15 June | Yes |
| January (winter) | 3 June | 15 October | No |
| May (summer) | 16 September | 1 February | Yes |
Winter 2027 admission closed on 15 October 2026, so the next January intake (winter 2028) closes on 15 October 2027 (based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens). Some fall programmes fill before 15 June. Since the scholarship window shuts on 15 February, a sensible plan for September 2027 looks like this:
- Pick your programme: check its prerequisites on Trent’s undergraduate programmes pages.
- Apply for admission: use the Trent Applicant Portal or OUAC, ideally before December, and upload your transcripts and English proof.
- Open the scholarship form: from 1 November 2026, log in to the Applicant Portal and go to Finances, then International.
- Write about service and leadership: the Prestigious assessment weighs community service, leadership and financial need, so give concrete examples with dates and roles.
- Submit by 15 February 2027: 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
- Start your study permit early: once you accept your offer, gather proof of funds and your provincial attestation letter (see below).
If a referee letter is part of your plan for other awards, our recommendation letter samples show what a strong one contains.
English requirements
| Test | Minimum for undergraduate admission |
|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | 6.5 overall, no band below 6.0 |
| TOEFL (tests from 2026, 1 to 6 scale) | 4.5, with at least 4.0 in writing |
| TOEFL iBT (older 120-point scale) | 86, with at least 20 in writing |
| Duolingo English Test | 115 (not accepted for graduate study) |
| PTE Academic | 59 |
| CAEL | 60 |
| Cambridge B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency | 176, no sub-score below 169 |
| Oxford ELLT | 7, no band below 6 |
| LanguageCert Academic | 70 to 74, no score below 65 |
You can skip the test if you studied full time in English for at least three years of high school, two years at a community college or one year at university without ESL courses. An IB diploma with English A, or a British curriculum O-Level English pass at grade C or above, also counts. A WAEC or IGCSE English pass at C may therefore be enough for applicants from West Africa or other British-curriculum systems, but confirm it with Trent admissions, since Trent can still ask any applicant for a test score.
Funding for master’s and PhD students at Trent
Graduate funding works differently. It is set out in your offer letter and needs no separate application.
- Master’s students in funded programmes receive a guaranteed minimum package of CAD 18,000 to 23,000 a year for two years.
- Doctoral students receive CAD 23,000 to 26,000 a year for four years.
- International PhD students are charged tuition at the domestic out-of-province rate, which removes the large international premium.
- Some international master’s students receive an International Graduate Scholarship that brings their fees down to roughly the out-of-province domestic level. Places are limited.
The package usually combines teaching assistantships (paid as employment income), research fellowship money from your supervisor and entrance awards. External awards such as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship need their own applications.
Study permit money you must show
For study permit applications made on or after 1 September 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) asks a single applicant studying outside Quebec to show CAD 23,448 for living costs, plus first-year tuition and travel. Undergraduates also need a provincial attestation letter (PAL) from Ontario. Master’s and doctoral students at public institutions have been exempt from the PAL since 1 January 2026.
Awards on other lists that are not Trent scholarships
- The CAEL and Western Union scholarships are run by outside organisations. They have their own rules and are not part of Trent’s scholarship process.
- OSAP grants and loans are for eligible Ontario residents, not international students.
- The Maple Leaf Leadership Award (CAD 2,000, one time) appeared on Trent’s 2026 list only for students from Maple Leaf Education System schools. It is not on the 2027 page.
FAQs about Trent University scholarships
Does Trent University give full scholarships to international students?
Not for 2027 entry. The largest combination is a CAD 5,500 entrance scholarship plus a Prestigious award of up to CAD 15,000 a year, while costs start at about CAD 57,710 a year.
What average do I need for a Trent entrance scholarship?
A final high school average of at least 80% on Trent’s Canadian scale. That earns CAD 2,500 a year, rising to CAD 5,500 a year at 95% and above.
When is the Trent international scholarship deadline for 2027?
The Prestigious Scholarship application opens on 1 November 2026 and closes on 15 February 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. The entrance scholarship has no separate deadline because it comes with your admission.
Can I get a Trent scholarship if I start in January?
You can still get the automatic entrance scholarship, paid half in winter and half in the following fall. January starters are not eligible for Prestigious Scholarships.
Sources and updates
Award values, eligibility and the 1 November to 15 February window come from Trent International’s international scholarships page, read on 24 October 2026, with Trent’s 2026 intake page used for the older award names. Costs are from Trent’s 2027/28 estimated cost of living and studying, admission dates from Trent’s international how-to-apply page, English scores from Trent’s English proficiency page, and graduate funding from the School of Graduate Studies funding page. The CAD 23,448 funds figure is IRCC’s requirement from 1 September 2026 as reported by CIC News, and the PAL exemption for graduate students is IRCC’s November 2025 announcement. This page will be updated if Trent changes its 2027 values or dates.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
