Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship

What the Pearson Scholarship Is

The Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship is the University of Toronto’s most prestigious award for international undergraduates. It covers tuition, books, incidental fees and full residence support for four years — the whole of an undergraduate degree, not one year of it. About 37 students a year are named Pearson Scholars. For a school leaver with an outstanding record, it is one of the very few genuinely fully funded undergraduate routes in the world.

What It Covers — and What It Does Not

The award pays for the core costs of four years of study: tuition, books, incidental fees and full residence support. What it does not pay for matters just as much. It does not cover the university admission application fee, visa application fees, international flights, relocation expenses or living costs during the winter and summer holidays. There is no separate published cash stipend. Families should therefore budget for travel, the visa and holiday living costs, even though the degree itself is fully funded.

Who Can Apply

The scholarship is open to international students of any nationality who need a Canadian study permit. You must be in your final year of senior secondary school, or have graduated no earlier than June 2026, and be starting at the University of Toronto in September 2027. Students already enrolled in any post-secondary programme cannot apply. The University looks for outstanding academic achievement, creativity, leadership potential and a commitment to making a positive impact in the community — grades alone are not enough.

How to Apply — The Nomination Rule

This is the step that catches most people out: you cannot apply for the Pearson Scholarship yourself. Your secondary school must nominate you, and each school may nominate only one student per year. The sequence for 2027 entry was nomination by 9 October 2026, a University of Toronto admission application by 16 October 2026, and the Pearson scholarship application by 6 November 2026. That round is now closed. The next cycle is expected to open in July 2027 (not yet announced) for September 2028 entry, so the practical step for a current school student is to speak to the school principal or counsellor now, well before the next nomination window, because the school can only choose one candidate.

Why It Is So Competitive

One nominee per school, worldwide, for about 37 places, means the competition starts inside your own school. The students who win are not only top of their class — they show creativity, leadership and service that a principal can describe with confidence. If your school has never nominated anyone before, it must first register with the University of Toronto, so start that conversation early.

Official source: University of Toronto — Lester B. Pearson International Scholarship