What Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) actually covers.
The Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) is the successor to the renowned Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, launched in 2025 as part of Canada's harmonised Canada Research Training Awards Suite administered jointly by CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC. The CPRA provides CAD 70,000 per year for two years to outstanding early-career researchers across all disciplines — health, natural sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities — and is one of the most prestigious postdoctoral recognitions globally. For international applicants, including those from Africa, up to 20% of all CPRA awards may be allocated to non-Canadian citizens or permanent residents, provided they are either enrolled in or have completed their doctoral degree at a Canadian institution, or are already conducting postdoctoral research in Canada by the application deadline. This makes the CPRA a realistic and valuable funding route for African doctoral researchers who have trained in Canada or who are already engaged with Canadian institutions. Applicants must have completed all PhD requirements within the three years preceding the award's start date and must not have previously received a postdoctoral award from any of the three funding agencies. The CPRA reflects Canada's recognition that attracting and retaining exceptional international talent — including from Africa — is vital to maintaining the country's position at the global frontier of research. For African postdoctoral researchers working in Canada, the CPRA represents unparalleled recognition and financial security to pursue independent, impactful research.
Who can apply.
Open to postdoctoral applicants seeking to study in Canada. Eligible nationalities are listed below.
46 more eligible countries — full list available on the official application page.
Every academic discipline is accepted.
This programme does not restrict by field. Research proposals across humanities, sciences, engineering, agriculture, and medicine are all accepted.
From here to submitted.
Scholar Africa helps you discover, shortlist, and track. The application itself is submitted on the provider's site.
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Save itAdd this to your shortlist so we can recommend similar scholarships and remind you of the deadline.
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Prepare your documentsMost providers ask for the same set — transcripts, references, a personal statement, ID. Use the checklist below to track progress across all your applications.
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Apply on the provider's siteSubmit on the provider's site before September 11, 2026 · 61 days left.
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Track the outcomeAdd to your tracker so you can update the status as the provider responds (shortlisted, interview, decision).
Document checklist
Checks are local to this device — they're not stored. Always confirm exact requirements on the provider's official application page.
What we checked, when we checked it.
Scholar Africa runs a link-liveness check on every listing before it goes live and an admin manually reviews every scholarship submitted by providers. Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) has been reviewed and verified by our team. Five deeper checks (contact, organisation, winners, third-party, formal audit) are on the roadmap.
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Other scholarships worth a parallel application.
Same eligibility window or destination. Many strong applicants apply to three or four programmes per cycle.