Off-Reserve Urban Agencies

Friendship Centres

Aboriginal Education Institutions

Band Funding

Non-Status Funding

Metis Funding

Scholarships & Bursaries

Loans

Related Links:

Financial Planning for Students

Introduction
There are different funding sources out there, first and foremost, if you are Status and part of your Band, go to them first. Talk with the Education Co-ordinator either in person or over the phone, about possible funding. Let them know what you’re interested in doing and than get all of the necessary information that you’ll need to fill out by the deadline.

NOTE: Keep in mind that the deadline is usually a lot sooner than you may think, you won’t get funding if you do it last minute!

If you are Non-Status there are many bursaries and scholarships available for First Nations students. These are some offered from UBC:

Tips on Applying for Financial Aid

When applying for funding from different places, always make sure you do these three things:

1. ASK WHAT THE DEADLINE DATES ARE FOR EACH SPONSORING ORGANIZATION YOU APPROACH FOR HELP. THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT!

2. ALWAYS GIVE YOURSELF LOTS OF TIME TO GATHER THE NECESSARY COURSE INFORMATION THAT A SPONSORING AGENCY IS GOING TO WANT TO KNOW. (SOMETIMES, IT IS NECESSARY TO APPLY UP TO A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. PROCESSING TAKES AL ONG TIME)!!!

3. ASK THE AGENCY WHAT THEIR SPECIFIC CRITERIA IS FOR SPONSORSHIP.

1. Off-Reserve Urban Agencies

ACCESS Futures Employment Centre Office
#110-1607 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V5L 1S7
Tel: 604.251.7955
Fax: 604.251.7954
http://www.buildingfuturestoday.com

ACCESS which has been created to help the off-reserve Aboriginal community of the Greater Vancouver area. Their mission is to empower individuals, including our Youth, by providing both counseling and support to end the employment barriers that many face.

They provide the following services:

•  Continuing Education funding
•  Training programs and workshops
•  Job Search support and services 
•  Skills, loans or grant funding
•  Individual counselling
•  Free phones, fax and photocopying

You must contact them to become a client and than an appointment can be set up. Each person will be dealt with individually and than the right services required will be set up.

2. Friendship Centres

BC Association Of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
#200 - 506 Fort Street
Victoria BC V8W 1E6
PH: (250) 388-5522
FAX: (250) 388-5502

FC in the GVRD:

Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society
1607 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C.
V5L 1S7
Tel: (604) 251-4844 Fax: (604) 251-1986
Email: info@vafcs.org

Mission Indian Friendship Centre
331050A First Avenue
Mission BC, V2V 1G4
Phone: (604)826-1281 Fax: (604)826-4056
Email: mifcs@shawcable.com

The Student Bursary Program

Objective: To assist British Columbia Native Indians in completing post-secondary education.

Program Description: Upon application, a Student Bursary will be considered for British Columbia Native Indians enrolled in recognized post-secondary educational institutions. The size of the Bursary will be determined by need and will reflect the amount of assistance received from other sources. The maximum level of assistance is $700/year for funded students and $2,000/year for non-funded students. The guidelines for this program are subject to change without notice.

Download the Student Bursary application HERE (PDF)

 As well as this, some friendship centers may offer certain employment and career planning resources.  For a complete list go to the website.

Note: As noted above the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre operates an employment centre called ACCESS (Aboriginal Community & Career Employment Services Society) and they have employment counselors, computer and internet access and one on one employment counseling and training dollars available to qualified candidates.

3. Aboriginal Education Institutions

From the Vancouver Native Education Centre:

4. Band Funding

You’ll need to apply directly to your band for help with education costs. When you contact them, remember to ask when their deadline dates are and what the acceptance criteria is. Ask them to send you some application forms by fax, email and/or mail

If you don’t know your band’s contact information, you can find it at the Department of Indian & Northern Affairs. The address is:

(When you get there, click on “Reserves” and from there you can look alphabetically or provincially)

Sometimes, your band can only cover living allowances but you’ll have to pay for tuition and travel costs. Sometimes they can pay for everything and sometimes they can only pay your tuition and you might be left with paying for supplies and living allowances. So check with them first.

Note: The Department of Indian Affairs & Northern Development (DIAND) aka Indian & Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), no longer process requests for education funds to First Nations People. DIAND (or INAC) now sends the funds to your nation and your nation will administer those dollars to you directly. INAC does have a Graduates Internship Program that may be worth your while to check out. Their website address is:

http://www.inac.gc.ca

5. Non-Status Funding

There are different funding sources out there, first and foremost, if you are status and part of your band, go to them first. Talk with the Education Co-ordinator either in person or over the phone, about possible funding. Let them know what you’re interested in doing and than get all of the necessary information that you’ll need to fill out by the deadline.

NOTE: Keep in mind that the deadline is usually a lot sooner than you may think, you won’t get funding if you do it last minute!

If you are non-status there are many bursaries and scholarships available for First Nations students. These are some offered from UBC:

6. Metis Funding

*Coming Soon

7. Scholarships & Bursaries

: Aboriginal Specific

National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
Suite 33A, 70 Yorkville Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M5R IB9

Toll free: 1-800-329-9780
Telephone: (416) 926-0775
Facsimile: (416) 926-7554
Email: naaf@istar.ca
Charitable #11883 4696 RR0001

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) is a nationally registered charity with a mandate to actively assist talented Aboriginal artists and cultural workers. NAAF has established a fund to provide financial assistance for education and training initiatives in the performing, visual, crafted, media, literary and graphic arts.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?
NAAF’s scholarship programs are available to all Canadian resident Aboriginal people: status and non-status First Nations, Métis and Inuit students who are pursuing full-time post-secondary studies in Canada during the upcoming academic year beginning in September.

*The following information is a brief synopsis of the NAAF description of programs. For complete and current details visit the links provided below.

NAAF delivers its mandate through the operation of four programs:

1. Fine Arts Awards Program

ELIGIBLE FIELDS OF STUDY: All areas related to the visual, performing, media, graphic and literary arts.

Click HERE to download application form (PDF)

2. The Business, Sciences, and General Education Program

ELIGIBLE FIELDS OF STUDY: Business, Science, Law, Engineering, Information Technology, Education, Social Work and the Social Sciences.

Click HERE to download application form (PDF)

3. The Aboriginal Health Careers Program

ELIGIBLE FIELDS OF STUDY: Health Sciences, such as Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Biology, Chemistry, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Clinical Psychology, Laboratory Research and Technology and any other health field in which a study of the hard sciences is a prerequisite.

Click HERE to download application form (PDF)

NOTE: DEADLINES ARE FIRM! Any application that is post-marked or courier shipped after the deadline dates will be ruled late, ineligible and returned. Please read the specific deadlines for each program.

: General Populace

   Studentawards.com

Studentawards.com provides instant access to a comprehensive database of thousands of Canadian scholarships, bursaries, grants, and fellowships for all levels of post-secondary education.

   Scholarships Canada

This site, updated annually, now includes over 50,000 individual scholarships worth over $50 million. You must be a subscriber to use the search function.

Loans

Canada Student Loans Program

The Canadian government funds this student loan program. This site offers comprehensive information on federal loans and grants available to students at the post-secondary level

  BC Student Assistance Program

The BC Student Assistance Program (BCSAP) is a student loan program funded by the Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology.

Aboriginal Canada Portal-- This site has hundreds of scholarships! All you have to do is go to the search section of the site and do a SEARCH for ABORIGINAL SCHOLARSHIPS and you will find pages and pages of them! There are literally so many, that it would take 10 pages to list them all here-amazing!

Langara College First Nations Education Services-70 Scholarship Listings! There are about 70 different scholarships listed on this site!

Aboriginal Scholarship Funding Guide - This site has scholarships conveniently listed by school, and a section on how to use the web for finding scholarships and bursaries.

Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal Youth - (FAAY) Note: this site is really hard to read, but they do distribute about $225,000 in scholarships to students across the country working towards post-secondary education so it's worth looking at. You can download the application by clicking HERE

BC Hydro Bill Reid First Nations Scholarships - The BC Hydro Bill Reid scholarship is available to full-time students attending or planning to attend Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Applicants must be committed to achieving their educational goals and to making a difference in their community and to their fellow students. Open to First Nation peoples only.

Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design - administers this scholarship.To apply contact the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design at 604-844-3800; for further information please visit BC Hydro's website at: