While we cannot guarantee a set amount of funding, we do make every effort to ensure that our graduate students are successful in obtaining support from such resources as scholarships (entrance and continuing ones are listed at:  
https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/awards-funding.html and graduate fellowships, which are distributed by us from the Graduate Studies Office), tutorial assistance and tutorial marker positions (available to both Master's and Doctoral students), sessional positions (available to Doctoral students once they pass their comprehensive examinations), research assistanceships (generally, related to grants held by faculty members), and Social Science and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Institute for Health Research scholarships.

Some students find employment outside the Department, either within the university (e.g., as a TA or RA in another department), or outside (e.g., a part-time job either related or not to their studies - such as the Master's program connection to Co-operative Education, or a scholarship program connected to employment with the provincial government).

Information about graduate tuition fees can be found in the SFU Academic Calendar. SFU Graduate Studies provides a Budget Calculator, a free tool to assist students as a guideline to budget and plan finances. Visit SFU Graduate Studies' website for information about Awards and Funding. 

Simon Fraser University International (www.sfu.ca/international) is the centre for obtaining advice on such matters, or for referrals to other sources.

The university requirement for admission to graduate studies is a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or better (and consideration

for the larger scholarships is generally given for students with a CGPA of around 4.00 or better).

English is the language of instruction and communication in the University. Accordingly, an applicant whose primary language is not English or whose previous education has been conducted in another language must demonstrate command of English sufficient to pursue graduate studies in the chosen field. Applicants normally will be required to achieve a satisfactory score on a standardized English test acceptable to the University. This test must include a writing component. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) including reading, writing, speaking, and listening components, is acceptable for this purpose. The IELTS (International English Language Testing Systems) is also acceptable. The minimum university requirements for test scores is TOEFL 88 with a minimum of 20 in each category (internet based exam), or TOEFL 570 and TWE 5 (paper based), or TOEFL 230 (computer based), and IELTS overall band score of 7.0; some graduate programs have higher requirements, as described elsewhere in this Calendar. Some graduate programs have higher requirements.

For those graduate options which involve research or advanced original scholarship (e.g., the thesis option in the Master's and Doctoral programs), admission is limited to those students for whom a Departmental faculty member (full, cross or associate) agrees to be senior supervisor. The proposal which you provide with your application provides the basis for this decision. For the course-intensive Master's option, the Graduate Chair is the senior supervisor.

These letters are intended to give the admissions committee an evaluation of the likelihood that you can do well in graduate studies (e.g., self-directed learner, capable of original and advanced scholarship and research). Letters from people (particularly educators in post-secondary institutes) who are familiar with your recent academic performance, or with your work in an area related to your proposed study, are most applicable.

No, you do not have to contact a professor about being your supervisor in advance but you can contact professors that you might be interested studying under to see if they are accepting students at your level and your topic area.

Your thesis proposal should be in the form of an abstract which should include a title. The proposal should reflect the size, scope and focus of the proposed research.

There are no quotas, the number of students accepted varies from year to year and is based upon the number of faculty that are accepting students and the area of study of the students applying to the program.

No decisions are made until after the application deadline, when the faculty members meet.