Scholarships and Funding Opportunities

GRPSEO provides funding in the form of scholarships and bursaries to Indigenous-identified students who belong to the Six Nations of the Grand River. Please visit GRPSEO's website for more details on eligibility and application processes. 

With sponsorship from Hydro One, Waterloo Engineering Outreach is proud to make funds available to students though the WEMADEIT Impact Grant. Understanding that students have valuable insight on what workshops, projects, and programs would most benefit their community, we would like to offer micro-EDII/Outreach project grants to current students wishing to run an event/project/program either on campus or in the community that support EDII (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization) initiatives.  Grants would be awarded to projects that demonstrate Outreach to under-represented groups in STEM within the community at-large, and projects that build community on campus or address systemic racism.

To receive a microgrant, students will need to submit a proposal with a basic breakdown of how the funds from the grant will be utilized. These proposals might include community outreach, guest speakers, networking events, or educational workshops; however, please feel free to submit any type of proposal which nurtures equity, diversity, inclusion and indigenization within the community or on campus. 

This opportunity is open to engineering students both at the undergraduate and graduate levels; should a submitted application prove successful, the recipient of the grant will be required to complete an exit survey, as well as a brief write-up detailing how the project unfolded and any lessons learned. 

The write-up will answer questions such as: 

• In what ways was the project successful? 
• In what ways could the project be improved, and which components would need to be altered? 
• Are there opportunities to broaden the reach of the project? 

By collecting this information, we will be able to improve and expand on larger-scale programs hosted by the Faculty of Engineering’s EDI and Outreach offices. 

If you are interested in applying for funding from the WEMADEIT Impact Grant, please contact Mary Robinson.

The IBET PhD Project, initiated by the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering, was launched in January 2021 to increase Indigenous and Black representation in the academic world. The fellowship is comprised of a funding package ($30,000/year for four years), a mentorship program, and a networking platform. 

Please visit the IBET PhD Project website for more details.

Indspire provides funding for Indigenous students (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) looking to enter post-secondary programs; currently, over 49,000 awards, bursaries, and scholarships are available. To see the full list, please visit Indspire's Funding website. 

The USRA belongs to NSERC's undergraduate programming; these awards are meant to stimulate student interest in pursuing research in the natural sciences, engineering and math, as well as to encourage students to pursue graduate studies and careers in these fields. For students seeking to gain research work experience that complements their studies in an academic setting, these NSERC awards can provide them with financial support.

For more information, please see the attached handout:

Numerous awards are available for undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo, both for current students and for those just entering their studies. To view the list of awards, please visit the Undergraduate Studies Forms page.

The University of Waterloo will waive tuition for incoming and current Waterloo students who are members of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation or Six Nations of the Grand River.   

Indigenous students who are members of these bands (on whose traditional territory the University of Waterloo is situated) and who are pursuing studies in an undergradute or graduate program at Waterloo are eligible for this waiver. This is part of Waterloo’s active work toward reconciliation and is a response to the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  

To further support access to education, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students from Canadian provinces and territories outside Ontario will be able to pay the same tuition as Ontario students. In recognition of the Jay Treaty, Native American students from the continental U.S. are also eligible for Ontario domestic tuition instead of international student tuition.  

The Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region “CCAWR” aspires to award three (3) or more scholarships each year to qualified Caribbean-Canadian students. These individuals must reside in the Waterloo Region, of Caribbean heritage and are accepted to attend College or University or a Post-Secondary Institution in Canada.  Their goal is to promote academic excellence, foster leadership skills and encourage community involvement among our young adults.