The taxpayers were postdoctoral students. Woods J. found that amounts received in 2009 under a research fellowship from Parkinson Society Canada ("PSC") were indeed "fellowships" within the meaning of s. 56(1)(n).
Woods J. then found that the taxpayers were entitled to the s. 56(3) fellowship exemption. She focused on three legislative requirements:
- The taxpayers were enrolled in a qualifying educational program at the University of Ottawa. Under the postdoctoral program, which was designed to train the taxpayers to be professors, they were required to do "full-time research for the purposes of advancing their education" (para. 34).
- The funding was received in connection with the enrolment. It was clear that "PSC did not provide the funding to the appellants in a vacuum" (para. 35).
- The taxpayers were full-time students at the University. The Oxford definition of "student" is "a person who is engaged in or addicted to study," and the legislation does not indicate a more specialized meaning (para. 40).
(The definition of "qualifying educational program" in s. 118.6(1) has since been amended to exclude programs that do not confer a degree.)