Canadian Bursaries and Scholarships

Canadian bursaries and scholarships are little understood for those who don’t reside in Canada and are always a great source of confusion for many students trying to figure them out. A Canadian bursary is a scholarship with conditions attached to it that students must fulfill. Let’s explore this further.

In Canada, bursaries are offered to students who display a sincere financial need and, combined with loans or other scholarships, are an excellent source of financial aid to get your schooling off on the right track. Canadian bursaries may seem confusing to many at first, but really the system is very elegant and simple, allowing students with only the basic knowledge of what they are doing to seek out and find potential funding with relative ease. While funding options through Canada bursaries are going to vary by the province students reside in, every student should take some time to consult with their local university and consider carefully the application options they will receive there.

Canadian bursaries are largely offered through a simple single form system. Students can pick up these forms from their university bursary offices and fill them out and turning them in as time permits. As is the case with most scholarships, all Canadian bursaries do not follow a single due date, so students will want to find those programs which apply to them and turn their bursary application form in by an appropriate date. These forms will ask students about their past academic experience, independent/dependent status, income information and fields of interest. They will also come with large packets containing the vast majority of locally offered bursary programs which students can peruse and consider while they are filling out their application. Once the application is complete, students should turn it into the appropriate office and, barring any significant problems, they will automatically apply to those Canada bursary programs for which they are eligible.

While the single application system is astoundingly effective in most cases, it will not always get students the access to information and programs they may need. Often times bursaries in Canada will be made available individually through specific programs. It is sometimes necessary for students to approach the office relevant to their studies to consult on alternate funding opportunities. These will be available for both undergraduate and graduate students, so even at this level students will have a large number of options available to them. If there are any programs your particular department offers that are not part of the normal bursary application process, students should get any information on them they can and consider whether or not they will meet the requirements set forth. If they can, regardless of how strong competition may be, students should always apply to the program as it may happen that they are chosen to receive its award.

Navigating the Canadian bursary system is both simple and at times complicated. While the initial process is as easy as stopping into your local Canada bursary office and picking up an application, if you are looking for funding beyond what is offered through that system you will have to do a little bit more digging. Consulting with your field of study’s department is a good place to start, and if that yields no results, consider looking at companies in your locality. While many of them will not offer bursary programs, larger firms will often offer financial aid for a limited number of students who agree to work for them after their graduation date. If you find such programs and meet their basic criteria, absolutely apply for the program – it never hurts to give it a shot.

One of most important things a potential student preparing for college must consider is whether or not they can afford the cost. While there are a privileged few who can afford to pay for school out of pocket, most students will not be able to pay from their own funds and will have to seek various forms of financial aid through Canadian bursaries and scholarships. Loans are a fairly common method of attaining assistance, but while they allow a student to graduate from college, those students are often left with huge chunks of debt which they then have to find a way to pay. Canada bursaries and scholarships eliminate this entirely and should be sought after first before student loans.