A Canadian Scholarship Recommendation Letter is a formal written endorsement provided by a teacher, professor, employer, or mentor who can attest to a student's academic abilities, personal character, leadership skills, and suitability for a particular scholarship. This document is a standard component of scholarship applications at Canadian post-secondary institutions and is used by scholarship selection committees to assess candidates beyond their academic transcripts and application forms.

Canada offers a wide range of scholarship programs at the federal, provincial, and institutional levels. Federal research scholarships include those administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), commonly referred to as the Tri-Agency scholarships. Provincial governments also administer scholarship and bursary programs, such as Ontario's Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), British Columbia's BC Graduate Scholarship, and Quebec's Fonds de recherche du Québec. Individual universities and colleges offer thousands of entrance scholarships, merit awards, and need-based bursaries, many of which require recommendation letters.

The recommendation letter provides the scholarship selection committee with a third-party assessment of the student's qualifications that complements the information provided in the application. Strong recommendation letters from credible sources can significantly strengthen a scholarship application by providing specific, concrete evidence of the student's abilities and potential.

A Canadian Scholarship Recommendation Letter is needed whenever a student applies for a scholarship, bursary, or award that requires one or more letters of recommendation. Most competitive scholarships at Canadian universities and colleges require at least one recommendation letter, and many require two or three. Federal Tri-Agency scholarships (NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR) require detailed academic references that assess the student's research potential and academic merit.

The letter is typically required at the time of submitting the scholarship application, which may be separate from the university admissions application. Deadlines for scholarship applications vary by institution and program, but many Canadian universities have scholarship deadlines in the fall for the following academic year, while Tri-Agency scholarship deadlines are typically in the fall or winter.

This document is also valuable when students are applying for external scholarships administered by non-profit organizations, private foundations, or professional associations. Canadian organizations such as the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, and the Rhodes Scholarship all require detailed recommendation letters from individuals who can speak to the student's academic excellence, leadership, and contribution to their community.

An effective Canadian Scholarship Recommendation Letter must identify the recommender by full legal name, professional title, institution or organization, mailing address with Canadian postal code, email, and phone number. The recommender's professional credentials and their relationship to the student must be clearly established to give the letter credibility.

The letter must specify the scholarship program by name and identify the student by their full legal name. The recommender should describe the nature and duration of their relationship with the student, explaining the context in which they observed the student's abilities. Whether the recommender is a teacher, professor, employer, or mentor, they must establish that they have sufficient knowledge of the student to provide a meaningful assessment.

The body of the letter should address the specific criteria of the scholarship and provide concrete examples of how the student meets each criterion. For academic scholarships, the recommender should describe the student's intellectual curiosity, academic achievements, research experience, and critical thinking abilities. For leadership scholarships, examples of the student's leadership roles, initiative, and impact on their community are essential. For need-based bursaries, the recommender may address the student's resilience and determination in the face of challenges.

The letter should conclude with a clear, enthusiastic recommendation that expresses the recommender's confidence in the student's worthiness for the scholarship. The recommender should offer to provide additional information if needed and include their full contact details for verification.