Scholarships and Bursaries

What you will need

• ✓ Indspire Building Brighter Futures consolidated online application via indspire.ca
• ✓ Proof of Indigenous identity (First Nations status / non-status, Inuit, or Métis — accepted documentation per Indspire)
• ✓ Acceptance / enrolment letter from a recognized Canadian post-secondary institution
• ✓ Most recent academic transcripts
• ✓ Personal statement describing your educational goals and how this award supports them
• ✓ Letters of recommendation (academic and / or community / Elder per Indspire guidelines)

About this award

Scholarships and Bursaries is one of the Indigenous-student awards funded by Government of Canada and administered through Indspire's Building Brighter Futures Bursaries & Scholarships program. Indspire is the largest non-government funder of Indigenous post-secondary education in Canada — every Indspire award uses one consolidated student application, evaluated for all 360+ Indspire funding pools (including this one). The award is open to Indigenous (First Nations status / non-status, Inuit, or Métis) students; specific eligibility criteria for Scholarships and Bursaries (program level, field of study, school, year, GPA threshold, residency, or community-of-origin requirements) are not posted as a dedicated block on the public indspirefunding.ca sponsor page — students should consult Indspire and Government of Canada directly for the full criteria before applying. Three Indspire deadlines per year (August 1, November 1, February 1) cover fall, winter, and spring entry cycles; one application is good for any deadline you select. Sibling awards funded by the same Government of Canada sponsorship include: Canadian Heritage Award; Health and Dental Awards; Legal Studies for Native People Awards.

Who qualifies

Open to Indigenous students (First Nations status / non-status, Inuit, or Métis citizenship). Government of Canada sets the specific criteria for this award (program level, school, field of study, year of study, residency, community-of-origin, or other requirements) — these are not posted on the public indspirefunding.ca page as a separate dedicated block. Apply via the central Indspire Building Brighter Futures portal; Indspire matches your single consolidated application to this award and any other Indspire pool you qualify for. Confirm your specific eligibility with Indspire and Government of Canada before applying.

This is what the award's own page said when we last checked. Rules change, so confirm with the provider before you apply.

How to apply

1. 1

   Read the award's own page

   Check you meet every requirement, and note each document they ask for.

2. 2

   Order your transcript1–2 weeks

   Your school's registrar can take a week or two.

3. 3

   Ask for reference letters2 weeks

   Give your referees at least two weeks' notice, and send them your résumé.

4. 4

   Write your essay

   Be specific about what you did and what changed because of it. Proofread it twice.

5. 5

   Submit your application

   Save a copy, and submit at least a day before the deadline shown above.

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