FAQs relating to graduate studies and postdoctoral fellowships
Please note that this page will be updated continuously as more information is confirmed. Grey-shaded questions indicate new or updated information.
Our goals at Concordia are first and foremost to ensure that the members of our communities are safe, and that we support the measures implemented by the Quebec government relating to the coronavirus pandemic. Faculty and staff continue to work to ensure the smoothest possible operations under these exceptional circumstances.
Below are answers to common questions; we encourage you to visit frequently as new information will be added as it becomes available.
Graduate admissions
School of Graduate Studies Admissions Statement
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in a few short months. Agile and judicious adaptation is needed to survive and thrive beyond these uncertain times on individual and institutional levels. While every aspect of life has been altered for us all, it is our students (both current and future) who have faced the most severe challenges. In response, Concordia and many fellow academic institutions have adjusted, offering flexible grading options in recognition of the disruptions to coursework as well as daily life.
Concordia’s School of Graduate Studies recognizes the urgency of this transformation and fully supports more flexible admissions policies to allow for a more holistic interpretation of candidates. Applications will be reviewed within the context of the pandemic, and applicants are encouraged to illustrate their individual circumstances in their personal statements.
The world has changed and the need for innovative researchers and thinkers has never been greater. It is our duty and our pride to welcome those who would undertake the challenge.
Concordia acknowledges the need for adaptation in unprecedented times and supports more flexible admissions policies for the Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 terms. Current, incoming and potential students are encouraged to contact their Graduate Program Directors (GDPs) to learn more.
Prospective students should upload documents via their Student Centre instead of sending them by mail, and unofficial copies of transcripts are accepted if mailing hard copies is impossible due to pandemic-related issues.
If you are experiencing difficulties related to sending documents because of Covid-19, please inform the university by typing up a detailed note and uploading it via your Student Centre. Under DOCUMENT TYPE, select NOTE FROM STUDENT.
In addition to our formally recognized English language proficiency tests (IELTS, TOEFL, etc.), Concordia now also accepts the online DuoLingo English Test to meet the required proof of English language proficiency. For further details, see “Language Testing” below.
Do not worry about submitting official documents now. You can upload unofficial copies in the interim. You have until the end of the Fall 2020 term to submit your official documents.
We also accept official transcripts officially via Parchment or National Student Clearinghouse. Please note that you and your school need to be signed up with these service providers to make use of this option for submitting transcripts.
If you are experiencing difficulties related to sending documents because of the pandemic, please inform the university by typing up a detailed note and uploading it via your Student Centre. Under DOCUMENT TYPE, select NOTE FROM STUDENT.
Many programs have extended their confirmation deadlines beyond May 1. Contact your Graduate Program Assistant (GPA) for information.
Most classes will begin online as scheduled in September. Please contact your Graduate Program Assistant (GPA) if you have questions about the status of a particular course for the Fall 2020 term.
Please contact the appropriate admissions consultant for individualized guidance:
- School of Graduate Studies: Lorena Marzitelli
- Faculty of Arts and Science: Ayanna Ryan
- Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science: Martine Fachena
- John Molson School of Business: Beth McKenna
- Faculty of Fine Arts: Heather Gagnon
Should you have to defer your Fall 2020 admission start date to the Winter 2021 term, your graduate award will also be deferred to the Winter 2021 term. Please refer to the Awards and Funding section, Q.2, for additional details.
Language testing
Should you experience difficulties registering for English language proficiency tests like IELTS or TOEFL, please note that we are now accepting the Duolingo English Test, which does not require visiting a test centre. See more information.
If you have registered for an English language test, please upload your registration confirmation to your Student Centre so that we can anticipate your results. Under DOCUMENT TYPE, select NOTE FROM STUDENT.
International students
Below are questions for international students specific to graduate studies. International students should also refer to Concordia’s International Student FAQs and the International Student Office (ISO) for additional information and updates.
Concordia’s Fall 2020 term will be delivered almost entirely online. The university is committed to providing you with a smooth transition and the support you need to succeed in an online environment.
We encourage you to register for your program and proceed with applying for your immigration documents immediately if you haven’t done so already.
Students for Fall 2020 are able to register and study online from wherever they reside. It is recommended that students apply for their immigration documents. Please contact the International Students Office (ISO) if you have any questions regarding studying in Fall 2020 without immigration documents.
If you are planning on travelling to Canada: You must demonstrate the purpose of your travel and meet conditions for entry to Canada. The final decision to permit entry to Canada will be made by the Canadian Border Service Agent. Please be aware of these risks should you choose to travel to Canada. When you arrive in Canada, your studies will continue online until campuses reopen.
If your initial study permit application was approved after March 18, 2020, you are not exempt from the air travel restrictions to Canada and will not be considered essential. You must wait until the Canadian government approves non-essential travel before coming to Canada. When you arrive in Canada, your studies will continue online until campuses reopen. More information can be found in the Government of Canada website.
Awards will be deposited in your Concordia account, and applied toward any outstanding balance of tuition fees. You will be able to withdraw any balance once you have arrived in Montreal with proper immigration documents.
International tuition fee waivers will be applied toward your tuition fees as per normal.
The offering and nature of teaching and research assistantships for the Fall 2020 term are still being determined. More information will be provided in the coming weeks.
The International Students Office (ISO) may be able to assist by providing a letter confirming your status as essential, potentially allowing you to enter Canada should your situation permit it. Please check with the ISO for the letter as well as other requirements and restrictions. Please also note that the disbursement of related research stipends or bursary awards is the decision of your supervisor.
Winter 2020 term
Academic standing reports for the Winter 2020 and Summer 2020 terms will be run early in the Fall 2020 term following the DNE deadline. Given the late changes for the Pass/Fail and DISC activities in May 2020, it was decided to run both terms sequentially.
Graduate students registered in a master’s or doctoral program who discontinued a program course during the Winter 2020 term between March 1, 2020 and April 15, 2020 received a 50% financial credit adjustment on any additional charges resulting from discontinuing a course during this period. Due to the 3-credit buffer embedded in the master’s and doctoral programs, and the fact that additional charges appear at the completion of the program, the following process will apply: The financial credit adjustment will occur at the same time the additional charges will appear, which generally occurs during the last term of the program. The following scenarios clarify the additional charges and financial credits awarded. See cases below for examples.
| Case I | ||
|---|---|---|
A master’s or PhD student discontinues a 3-credit course in winter 2020 within a 45 (57 or 60 for some master’s and 90 for PhD programs) nominal credit program, and the course credit is equivalent to 48 (60, 63, 93 respectively) attempted credits and retakes it in a subsequent term. The student has neither discontinued another course in the past, nor will they discontinue another course in the future, until graduation. |
No additional charges will occur; nor will a financial credit adjustment be necessary. Master's and PhD students are permitted to register for a maximum of 3 course credits in addition to the nominal credits in their degree program without additional charge. This is equivalent to 48 (60, 63, or 93 respectively) attempted credits. |
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| Case II | ||
A master’s or PhD student discontinues a 4-credit course in winter 2020 and retakes it in a subsequent term, pushing the attempted course credits above the 48 (60, 63, 93 respectively) nominal program credits. The student has neither discontinued another course in the past nor will they discontinue another course in the future, until graduation. |
The student will be subject to an additional charge of 1 credit during the later terms of their studies. At that time, the student will receive financial credit adjustment for 50% of the value of the 1 credit they discontinued during the Covid-19 affected period. That is, the 50% refund will be calculated on the 1 additional course credit exceeding the 48 (60, 63, 93 respectively) attempted credit. |
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| Case III | ||
A master’s or PhD student discontinues a 3-credit course in winter 2020, and a 3-credit course was discontinued in the past, and the program credits are above the equivalent to 48 (60, 63, 93) attempted credits. In other words, a master’s or PhD student who has discontinued a course or courses in the past also discontinues a 3-credit program course during the aforementioned period and retakes it in a subsequent term. The student has discontinued in the past, or will discontinue in the future, another 3 or more credit course. |
The student will be subject to additional charges of (at least) 3 credits during the later terms of their studies. At that time, the student will receive a financial credit adjustment for 50% of the value of the 3 credits they discontinued during the Covid-19 affected period. That is, the 50% refund will be calculated on the 3 additional course credits exceeding the 48 (60, 63, 93 respectively) attempted credits. |
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| Case IV | ||
A master’s or PhD student discontinues a 4-credit course in winter 2020, and a 3 or more credits course was discontinued in the past, and the course credits are above 48 (60, 63, 93) attempted credits. In other words, a master’s or PhD student who has discontinued a course or courses in the past and also discontinues a 4-credit (or more) program course(s) during the aforementioned period and retakes it in a subsequent term. The student has discontinued in the past or will discontinue in the future, another 3 or more credit course. |
The student will be subject to additional charges of at least 4 credits during the later terms of their studies. At that time, the student will receive a financial credit adjustment for 50% of the value of the 4 credits (or more) they discontinued during the Covid-19 affected period. That is, the 50% refund will be calculated on the 4 additional course credits exceeding the 48 (60, 63, 93 respectively) attempted credits. |
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If your graduation was planned for Winter 2020 but delayed by the Covid-19 crisis, you will not have to pay Continuation fees for the Summer 2020 term. Please submit a service request under Miscellaneous and include an explanation on how Covid-19 has affected your schedule. Please visit to your Student Centre to see how to submit a service request.
Time Limit Extension requests will be processed per usual. Go to your Student Centre to see how to submit a service request. Fee waivers for a one-term Time Limit extension into the Summer 2020 term may also be requested via a Miscellaneous service request for those students whose Time Limit was at the end of the Winter 2020 but were unexpectedly delayed by the Covid-19 crisis; include an explanation on how Covid-19 has affected your ability to complete your degree by the end of the Winter 2020 term.
Pass/Fail
Due to the challenging conditions caused by the pandemic, Concordia allowed students to choose either to receive a PASS/FAIL or a letter grade for courses completed in the Winter 2020 semester only. In addition, students who fail a class in the Winter 2020 semester will eventually receive a DISC notation. This includes courses that spanned the Fall/Winter 2020 terms.
A student’s decision, once submitted to the university, is irrevocable.
In all cases where students select a Pass or Fail (DISC) over a letter grade, it will not be included in the calculation of any GPA. In addition, Concordia transcripts will highlight the particular circumstances of this semester. However, students should consider that under certain circumstances, a letter grade may be more advantageous than a pass.
If your grade was not available by the May 15 deadline, you can submit a Service Request via your Student Service Center within two weeks of receiving your grade. Be sure to state that your grade was not available by the deadline and include the date it was available. Your request will be reviewed by your Graduate Program Director (GPD) and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies for approval.
Students are encouraged to discuss their specific circumstances with their supervisor(s) or GPDs prior to submitting their request.
Timed online final exams
A “timed online exam” refers to a final exam, taking place during the exam period, that must be written in one sitting over no more than a three-hour time period, proctored or not. Other final assignments including take-home exams – even if these have a specific time duration – projects or quizzes, do not fall under these guidelines.
Awards and funding
As part of preventive measures, approval for conference-related travel is currently suspended, however please note that the Concordia University Conference and Exposition Award remains available for virtual conferences only. Eligible applicants should include registration fees when submitting their applications. Fees associated with travel or accommodations will not be considered. The process for submitting conference award applications for virtual conferences remain the same, and applications must be submitted prior to the virtual conference.
For students whose conference and exposition award was approved by the School of Graduate Studies prior to the pandemic, we confirm that the reimbursement of non-refundable travel fees for the conference will be honoured.
Please contact the Internal Awards Advisor for information regarding such reimbursement and/or if you have questions or concerns regarding your conference award.
If you are a newly admitted student with a registration in your graduate program for the Fall 2020 term, and you are a recipient of a graduate award, then all payments will be disbursed to your student account. The disbursement will occur after the Fall DNE deadline date.
However, awards will not be disbursed to international students who do not have proper immigration documents and cannot travel to Canada. For students who have deferred their Summer 2020 admission to the Fall 2020 term, your graduate award will be honoured and the award has been deferred to the Fall 2020 term.
Should you have to defer your Fall 2020 admission start date to the Winter 2021 term, your graduate award will also be deferred to the Winter 2021 terms and you will not lose it.
The Graduate Awards Office has received communication from the federal granting agencies (SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR) that all deadline dates for the upcoming Fall 2020 competitions will remain the same as in previous years. The Graduate Awards Office is still waiting confirmation from FRQ (provincial granting agencies) regarding the upcoming competitions. Should such details become available, we will update this information here.
We have not heard otherwise from FRQ concerning this competition, therefore the competition will continue as planned. The Concordia internal deadline date is July 31.
In light of the pandemic, the Graduate Community Building Fund has been temporarily replaced by the Graduate Community Support Fund. If you have an active application or funded project under the Building Fund, or if the scope of your project/event has changed, please communicate with Racha Cheikh-Ibrahim.
Please note that the temporary Support Fund is accepting projects that either support the graduate community with adaptation to the Covid-19 environment or allow our graduate students to offer their services to the Montreal community. For more information, visit the Graduate Community Building Fund page.
Postdoctoral fellows
New and prospective postdoctoral fellows
If you have received a postdoctoral appointment and cannot enter Canada due to preventative measures relating to Covid-19, please be assured that your contract is still honoured by Concordia University.
Once we have received the next directives by the government of Canada, (if necessary) your appointment letter will be amended to reflect the length of the original appointment and the required documents will be issued to extend your visa.
Due to preventative measures relating to Covid-19, postdoctoral appointments for all foreign nationals are suspended until further notice. We encourage you to postpone your plans and connect with your prospective supervisor to discuss your next steps.
Postdoctoral fellows will continue to be paid as per the terms of the postdoctoral contract.
Campuses and facilities are closed as of May 2020, but some labs are starting to be re-opened on a limited basis. Please consult with your supervisor to determine when your lab will be re-opening. If, prior to full re-opening of labs, a postdoctoral fellow requires access to their supervisor’s lab for the maintenance of essential, critically time-sensitive research activities (e.g. research underway where results, data, materials, samples, etc. may be lost or compromised), postdoctoral fellows should communicate with their direct supervisor.
You are encouraged to contact the Postdoctoral Coordinator, who will liaise with the Office of Research to assess projects on a case by case basis.
International students who obtain(ed) their PhD from a Canadian University are eligible for the Open Work Permit, which is different from the traditional work permit. For these cases, international students may start a postdoctoral appointment using their study permit while their Open Work Permit is being processed.
Due to preventative measures relating to Covid-19, postdoctoral appointments for all foreign nationals are suspended until further notice. We encourage you to postpone your plans and connect with your prospective supervisor to discuss your next steps
Thesis defences
For the foreseeable future, Concordia University is having oral thesis defences conducted remotely via videoconferencing using the Zoom software application. All previously scheduled thesis defences will be conducted remotely at their already scheduled date and time.
Master’s defences will also proceed remotely by Zoom videoconferencing using the above procedures. For the duration of the COVID-19 situation, the oral defence requirement for Master’s degrees may be waived, subject to approval by the Graduate Program Director or Department Chair. The organization and administration of Master’s defences will still be handled by the graduate programs and not by the Thesis Office. Graduate Programs are still required to submit all pertinent documents to the Thesis Office.
If you are a PhD candidate or external examiner abroad, please do NOT travel to Montreal and cancel all travel arrangements accordingly.
Remote thesis defences will be conducted until further notice. The School of Graduate Studies will send out a clear university-wide message should this policy change.
Students should make their initial thesis submissions per normal procedures. Examining committee members should submit their reports in advance per normal procedures. All participants in thesis defence will receive detailed instructions, well in advance, on how to join via teleconferencing. Travel arrangements for the external examiner should not be made to attend thesis defences in person.
Until further notice, all future defences will be continued to be scheduled per normal (along with initial submission to Thesis Office, etc.), with the defences being conducted per the new remote videoconferencing process.
Current thesis submission deadlines will be maintained. If defences are successfully conducted remotely then any revision processes should be able to be performed per normal. We are trying to maintain our timeline as much as possible with all processes.
Running a thesis defence using Zoom
Supervisors of PhD candidates will be responsible for setting up the Zoom meetings with the invitees. Visit the following link: https://concordia-ca.zoom.us/. Supervisors will enrol with their @concordia.ca email, create a web conference, share it with their student, external examiner, internal examiners and chairperson. We strongly suggest that supervisors run a simulation before the real defence session.
If a supervisor encounters technical difficulties in setting up a Zoom session, they should directly contact IITS for further support. In the event that a defence cannot go ahead due to unresolvable technical difficulties, the defence will need to be postponed and rescheduled at a later date. The chairperson is responsible for making the final decision to postpone the defence should unsurmountable technical difficulties be encountered.
The supervisor will invite the PhD candidate, the external examiner, the other members of the examining committee, and the defence chair. Supervisors should make sure that they have email addresses for all attendees in advance of the session in order to invite them through Zoom.
At the present time, the School of Graduate Studies strongly recommends not to invite anyone other than the active participants in the defence. This will avoid putting undue stress on the system, enhance security, and will ensure that the session goes smoothly.
No. Only the supervisor needs a Zoom license. A site license has been procured and individual licenses are not necessary. If a supervisor experiences difficulties, they should contact IITS directly for support.
Under these extraordinary circumstances we recommend that all examiners forward their questions via email to the chair of the defence prior to the event. We also recommend that other means of communication such as skype and phone contacts are exchanged. Every attempt should be made to resolve the situation within a reasonable period of time (e.g. 15-30 minutes). We also recommend that the defence continue without at most one examiner (other than the chair or the supervisor). In such an event the chair can act as a delegate and ask the questions on behalf of the absent examiner. If the remote defence cannot proceed because Examining Committee quorum has not been achieved, then the remote defence must be postponed and rescheduled (see above).
After the defence
Please ensure that all relevant forms have been signed digitally (you can sign on behalf of all examining committee members) and then send all relevant completed documents electronically (via email) to the Thesis Office.
Electronic signatures (i.e., scanned copies of signatures) are acceptable, and the defence chair can sign electronically on behalf of all examining committee members. For the signature page in particular, the chair can sign for all of the examiners, manually and email a scanned copy to the Thesis Office. This can also be done for the committee rankings of the thesis and oral defence.
Lab access
Individuals coming to campus are required to complete a 20-minute EHS training course (via Moodle) about the new health and safety measures.
As of May 27, individuals returning to campus will be required to complete an online self-evaluation form concerning their health and recent travels. If your lab is on the approved list for re-opening, details will be sent to you shortly.
For more information about access to labs, refer to the Research FAQs.
Additional resources
The university has created a form for students, faculty, and staff to request IT equipment while campuses are closed. Please note that this request does not guarantee availability of equipment as stock is limited.
Please use it to submit your request to borrow a computer, webcam or microphone if you are:
- A student enrolled in a winter term class without access to a computer
- A professor teaching a course without access to a computer, microphone or webcam
- A staff member whose supervisor has approved a request to borrow a computer to work from home
Useful links
If you have questions that are not addressed by the FAQs, please contact covid19info@concordia.ca.
