FACT-CHECK: Canada is not offering this summer scholarship for 2026

Written by Gabriel Garang Garang

A claim widely shared on WhatsApp with a link alleging a “Canada Scholarship 2026 Summer Admission” is false.

The message, which has been forwarded to many WhatsApp groups and direct messages, has been making rounds since early February 2026.

“Study at the University of Toronto with the course of your choice for free throughout the years program,” the claim partly states.

Debunking the Claim:

According to a scan of the URL on VirusTotal, eight of the ninety-eight security vendors have flagged the link as carrying malware, malicious and phishing links; these are all dangerous and intentionally planted to mine people’s data for their personal use.

And a search to get domain information and domain registration on Whois for the impostor website shows that it was registered on 01 January 2023 and will expire on 01 January 2027 under the Domain Registrar: Tucows Domains Inc.

While the claim bears the official logo of the University of Toronto, the Canada Scholarship 2026 Summer Admission is not offering any scholarship for the courses of prospective applicants’ choice as claimed, and the link attached is not the official website of the University of Toronto, which was registered on 28 September 2000, according to Whois domain information.

Our Verdict:

The ClarityDesk finds the claim being widely shared on WhatsApp groups and direct messages that Canada is offering Scholarship 2026 Summer Admission through the University of Toronto to be false.

The link, which is on an impostor website and registered under a different name, is flagged as suspicious by VirusTotal. The University of Toronto shares active news via its official website and social media handles.

This article is published by The ClarityDesk, with the support of the Election Civic Tech Fund of AfricTivistes, within the AHEAD Africa and Digitalise Youth projects, led by the Digital Democracy Initiative.

Have you spotted an error in this article and would like to request a correction, or have you come across a claim that we should investigate? Please send us an email via editor@claritydesk.org or click here to WhatsApp us via +211 928 606 958.

About The ClarityDesk

The ClarityDesk is a media integrity project based in South Sudan dedicated to promoting truth, transparency, and accountability. Working at the intersection of fact-checking, solutions and data journalism, we verify claims, debunk misinformation, and equip the public with tools to critically evaluate information. Our work is guided by accuracy, independence, and the public interest.

FACT-CHECK: Canada is not offering this summer scholarship for 2026 was originally published in The ClarityDesk on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.