2026 CERC Migration and Bridging Divides Journalism Fellowship

If you are an experienced journalist covering migration, global affairs or social issues, the applications are now open for the CERC Migration and Bridging Divides Journalism Fellowship 2026. This is a rare chance to pause from the newsroom and step into an immersive, one-month residency at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where you will engage with cutting-edge research on migration and integration, build bridges with scholars and policy thinkers, and sharpen the depth and authority of your journalism. Here's everything you need to know.

📸 Fellowship Summary

• Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Host institution: Toronto Metropolitan University, under CERC in Migration and Integration & Bridging Divides

• Program Level: Journalism residency / fellowship (not a degree)

• Target group: Staff or freelance journalists with substantial experience (≥ 5 years)

• Focus: Migration, integration, global affairs, politics, social issues, economy

• Value / coverage: CAD 5,000 stipend (including a travel allowance) to support residency expenses

• Duration of residency: 20 to 35 consecutive days, within the period March 1 – November 30, 2026 (excluding July & August)

• Application deadline: November 1, 2025

• Residency window: Between March 1 and November 30, 2026 (excluding July and August)

• Eligible to: Journalists worldwide (staff or freelance) with at least 5 years’ media experience covering complex / international topics

🌎 Fellowship Overview

This is not a conventional teaching fellowship or degree programme. Rather, it is a journalistic residency built around the following components:

• Residency & immersion: The fellow will relocate to Toronto for a continuous 20–35 day period, interacting with the research community at TMU’s CERC Migration & Bridging Divides groups.

• Academic host & mentorship: Each fellow will be paired with a dedicated academic host from among the CERC Migration / Bridging Divides research teams (subject to availability). The host supports networking, guidance, facilitating access to research connections.

• Access to resources: Fellows get office space, access to CERC Migration facilities and research resources at TMU.

• Events, workshops & exchanges: Fellows are integrated into CERC’s research events, workshops, seminars, and the general research environment to foster mutual learning between journalists and scholars.

• Journalism-research dialogue: Fellows are encouraged to share their experience in journalism practice with researchers, to help bridge gaps in communicating research to broader audiences. Importantly, there is no expectation that the journalist produce pieces about TMU or about the fellowship as output.

🎁 Benefits & Coverage

• Stipend & travel allowance: CAD 5,000 to cover living and travel costs during the period of residence.

• Mentorship & networking: Engagement with scholars, CERC Migration researchers, policy thinkers, and other fellows; fostering professional networks.

• Office infrastructure & resources: Workspace, access to the research centre’s libraries, databases, institutional support.

• Learning & capacity building: Deep exposure to current migration scholarship, methodological debates, policy dialogue, and enhanced credibility for your future work.

• No output requirement: You are not obliged to publish articles about TMU or the fellowship; the emphasis is on your own journalistic project and learning.

✅ Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible:

1. Experience: At least 5 years of professional media work (staff or freelance)

2. Track record: Demonstrated reporting on issues that are complex and international in scope (e.g. migration, social policy, governance, global affairs)

3. Project alignment: Your proposed stay / work should align with CERC Migration or Bridging Divides research themes and you should indicate which academic host(s) you want to collaborate with (two choices).

   • Note: The academic host cannot be Anna Triandafyllidou.

4. Residency dates: You must pick a continuous 20–35 day period between March 1 and November 30, 2026, excluding July & August.

5. Submission of supporting materials: See “Application Procedure” below.

6. Not disqualified by geographic constraint: The fellowship is globally open; applicants from any country may apply.

📝 Application Procedure

You will apply via the online application form . The required components are:

1. Condensed CV (max 4 pages)

2. Cover letter (max 2 pages), addressing:

   • Why you want this residency and how it will benefit your journalism

   • How your work fits within either CERC Migration research themes or Bridging Divides themes / existing projects

   • Description of your proposed activities during the stay (e.g. field research, stakeholder engagement, workshops, media training)

   • Which academic host(s) you propose (first and second choice) and how that aligns with your project

   • The specific dates you propose for your 20–35 day residency within the allowed window

3. Work samples: 2–3 relevant examples of your journalism (written in PDF if text, or links for digital / multimedia content)

4. (Optional) Recommendation letter from a supervisor, editor, or senior colleague in media who can attest to your work

After submission, successful candidates will be notified by January 2026.

ℹ️ Useful Notes & Tips

• In 2025, the first cohort of fellows was announced, bringing together journalists from diverse regions to engage with the program.

• This fellowship is explicitly framed as a two-way exchange: journalists bring practice knowledge to scholars; scholars bring insight to journalistic work.

• Since there is no requirement to produce work about TMU, your choice of project can be anchored in your usual beat; choose alignment with migration or integration research that advances your reporting.

• When selecting academic hosts, map their research specialties and recent publications to your project to increase your chance of a good match.

• Be realistic in budgeting the CAD 5,000: it must cover travel, local accommodation, daily expenses; pick residency dates that optimize cost (off-peak, avoid high tourism periods).

• Because July and August are excluded, your possible months are March–June and September–November.

• In your cover letter, demonstrate clear potential for bridging research and media (e.g. past work that used data or engaged with academic content).

• Since the competition may be strong, having distinct, well-defined proposed activities (workshops, stakeholder engagement, local field visits) will help your application stand out.