There are quite a few scholarship deadlines coming up between now and winter, and we hope this list we’ve put together helps you make the most of these opportunities! The Indspire Awards are especially important, as they are a bundled application to many scholarships, awards, and bursaries - you may have seen our previous blog posts about them. With the Indspire Awards deadline coming up on Nov. 1st, Shay Denis (ITMP’s Vice-Chief of Cultural Outreach and Advocacy) has prepared a guide to help you navigate the Indspire website at the end of this post! And stay tuned in: next week, ITMP’s Chief, Todd Nelson, will share his tips for applying to the Indspire Awards.
Scholarship Timeline:
27 Oct. 2023 - BC First Nations Public Service Scholarship (lgma.ca)
31 Oct. 2023 - Animikii Scholarship (Indigenous students age 17-30 in technology or entrepreneurship-related studies; does not need to be a degree program)
31 Oct. 2023 - Eaton Indigenous Clean Energy Scholarship
31 Oct. 2023 - Modern Metis Woman Scholarships (for Metis women studying at a university in Canada)
1 Nov. 2023 - Indspire Scholarship
6 Nov. 2023 - TD Scholarship for Indigenous Peoples (for members/citizens of a First Nation, Metis or Inuit community)
23 Nov. 2023 - Centennial College Bursaries (Indigenous Bursary, Ontario First Generation Bursary)
15 Jan. 2024 - First Citizens Student Bursary
Navigating the Indspire Website:
Indspire can be an excellent opportunity for Indigenous students to receive funding for College or University. However, their website can be a bit confusing and may deter some students from applying! Hopefully, after reading this you will find it much easier to apply to Indspire!
On the Indspire website homepage (https://indspire.ca), there is a ton of information including stories of past students who have received funding. Feel free to browse and check out other students' stories before you apply yourself! To get started on your application, scroll about ⅓ of the way down the homepage and find the purple prompt asking “Are you a First Nations, Inuit, or Metis student?”. You will need to click on the link below the prompt. This will take you to a page with an overwhelming amount of information! I was very lost once I got to this page for the first time! If you scroll down to a headline that states “Post-Secondary Education Programs”, there will be a big blue apply button underneath. This button will redirect you to another page titled “Indigenous Education is Canada’s Future Growth”.
From here you will need to create an account with Indspire. There will be a sign-in button on the top right of the page and it will redirect you to yet another page. Here you can register and they will ask for an email, phone number, full name, and birthdate. Once an account is created, you should be brought back to the previous page (if not, click on the little house symbol on the top bar). On this page, a bright orange button labelled “start application” should be visible. You will click on this to be redirected to a new page to start your application!
I hope this makes the daunting website easier to navigate! Good luck with applying!
Shay
Image credits: Indspire via Indspire.ca
Authors: Shay Denis and Basil Giannopoulos, ITMP Vice-Chiefs